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Mrs. Emma Speaoer Barber 
















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MILDRED TUCKER 


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Mildred Tucker 


BY 

Mrs. Emma Spencer Barber 

M 


1923 



Printed by 

The Baptist Banner Publishing- Co. 
Parkersburg, W. Va. 


EDITOR’S NOTE. 


This simple little story, my first 
attempt, is written with the hope 
that it may be the means of helping 
our young- people to see the gTeat 
privilege and opportunity they have 
of making their lives count for our 
best friend, Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

To all that have answered the call 
for life service, and to those who 
shall answer the call, this book is 
dedicated. 


Emma Spencer Barber. 





% 








CHAPTER I. 


It was a beautiful, warm day in autumn 
when the leaves were just beginning to change 
their color to brown and red, when two girls 
came leisurely down the hill where they had 
been spending the afternoon gathering chest¬ 
nuts. They were neighbors, and lived on 
Russell Street, in the town of Richwood, Vir¬ 
ginia. Marguerite Woodson and Mildred 
Tucker were very close friends and were often 
together. Although different in both looks 
and tastes they were very congenial, and 
would stroll away by themselves to talk 
over any matter of importance which might 
present itself. 

Marguerite was tall, with beautiful brown 
eyes and wavy chestnut hair, and her chief 
charm was the bright smile with which she 
greeted every one. She was never too much 
occupied with her own interests to stop and 
speak a cheery word to children and older 
people, as well as those of her own age; and 
often the remark was made: “It is a blessing 
to come in contact with a character like that/’ 

Mildred’s eyes were deep blue; with fair 
skin and dimples in her rosy cheeks, full 
red lips which disclosed a set of pearl 


10 


MILDRED TUCKER 


white teeth, and her beautiful golden 
hair, she attracted the attention of those 
she met, and many turned in adoration 
to gaze at one so unconscious of her own 
beauty. She was not so tall as Marguerite, 
but was well developed in form and graceful 
in her carriage, and being the only child in a 
wealthy home, she had everything to make her 
life happy; yet there seemed to be something 
lacking, which Marguerite (although one of 
five children in a plain, comfortable home) 
possessed. 

The difference was in the home training. 
Mildred’s mother was reared in a home where 
servants attended to her every wish, and she 
w r as free to spend her time in whatever way 
her fancy dictated; Mrs. Tucker had felt 
Mildred too should never have a care, and 
had reared her in the same way. Mildred 
had finished college and her mother was plan¬ 
ning to take her abroad for a year, and that 
was the subject of the conversation this after¬ 
noon. Marguerite also had finished college, 
and they feared that from now on their lives 
would drift apart, and were sad as they talked 
of the separation. 

Marguerite’s mother was a lovely Christian 
character and had taught her children to “Seek 
first the Kingdom of God and His righteous¬ 
ness, and all other things shall be added unto 


MILDRED TUCKER 


11 


you.” Mr. and Mrs. Woodson at the beginning 
of their little home had set up their family 
altar, and this had been a great influence for 
good upon their children as they had come to 
bless their home. 

Marguerite had at the age of twelve years 
accepted Christ as her personal Saviour; she 
had felt for some time that she wanted to give 
her life in service to Christ, and was only 
waiting for the way to open whereby she could 
enter a Training School and fit herself for her 
life work. Marguerite had often spoken to 
her chum about her hopes and plans, but 
Mildred had tried to influence her to enter 
some other field of work “that she might en¬ 
joy life,” as Mildred said, and not make so 
many sacrifices. Today as they talked of their 
future, she asked Marguerite if she still in¬ 
tended to be a missionary. “Yes, indeed,” 
Marguerite replied. “Mildred, if you would 
only accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour, it 
would be much easier to see you go so far 
away. I am sure you would be much happier, 
and each day, by service, you could be ‘laying 
up treasure in Heaven/ ” Mlidred looked very 
serious and, throwing her arms around 
Marguerite, she said, “Do you know, I would 
give anything in the world if my mother and 
father were Christians, and had a family 
altar, as yours have? There are some things 
wealth cannot buy. As I have been in your 


12 


MILDRED TUCKER 


home and shared with you one of the sw T eetest 
services w r hich can be rendered to God, the 
family together praising His name—I have 
gone home heart hungry and have often 
v r ished I could change places wdth you. I have 
tried to persuade you to give up your intention 
of being a missionary, but now that I am go¬ 
ing away, I want to be very frank with you and 
tell you how glad I am that you were true to 
your convictions.” 

It was Wednesday night and as they parted, 
Mildred said, “Are you going to Helen's party 
this evening?” “No, dear; I have an engage¬ 
ment on Wednesday evenings which only sick¬ 
ness keeps me from fulfilling. I feel that our 
prayer meeting is of so much importance, I 
cannot miss. Come and go with me?” 
Mildred hesitated before replying, but said, “I 
have already accepted Helen’s invitation,” but 
going a little closer to Marguerite she said, 
“I most wish I could go with you tonight. 
Some day I am going to settle this question 
and seek the deeper things of life.” Without 
waiting for a reply, she ran across the street 
and into her home. 

“Is that you, Mildred?” her mother called. 
“Yes, mother. Did you want me?” “I w 7 as 
only thinking you should have rested this 
afternoon in order to be ready for the party 
this evening.” 


MILDRED TUCKER 


13 


“I am not tired, it always rests me to be with 
Marguerite. Mother, she is the loveliest 
character I ever knew, and I wish I were half 
as good.” 

Mrs. Tucker looked displeased and said, “I 
am afraid you spend too much time with 
Marguerite. She is too old for a girl of twenty 
and does not enter into the pleasures of life 
as she should.” 

“Mother, you do not realize how happy she 
always is; and I do not believe she would 
change places with anyone. In fact, I know 
she is always invited to the parties, picnics and 
everything, and unless it interferes with her 
church services, she attends (that is, except 
the dances and card parties), and enters into 
everything with so much vim, she is the center 
of attraction.” 

Mildred went to her room and threw her¬ 
self across the bed for a little rest. She 
thought of the party and was surprised how 
little she cared to go, as she had always been 
so fond of dancing. She tried to think of the 
good time she would have, as she was a gen¬ 
eral favorite with all the young men and was' 
very fond of Harold Childs, who was to be 
her escort. The words of Marguerite kept 
coming back to her, “Laying up treasure in 
Heaven,” and she couldn’t free herself from 


14 


MILDRED TUCKER 


the thought. 

“If I should die tonight, I wonder what 
would become of me? Surely I have very 
little treasure, if any, stored away up there/' 
She fell into a troubled sleep and was aroused 
by the announcement of dinner. She hastily 
dressed and went down to join her father and 
mother in the dining room. Mr. Tucker was 
a big, broad-shouldered man, with dark eyes 
and hair. He was president of the First 
National Bank and was a very shrewd and 
capable man. He had many friends among all 
classes and was honest and straightforward in 
all his dealings. Mildred was the “apple of 
his eye” and to him she was almost perfect. 
After the dinner was finished he turned to 
Mildred and said, “Are we to have the 
pleasure of your company tonight, or are you 
going out?" She replied, “Father, I am go¬ 
ing to Helen Gould’s party, but I will be home 
tomorrow evening and will sing for you then.” 

Mr. Tucker had been reared in a Christian 
home and while not a Christian himself, he 
still enjoyed the family gathering around the 
piano and singing the good old hymns, as they 
used to do in the old home. 

As he sat thinking over his life tonight and 
what wealth had brought to him, he realized 
the thing for which he had struggled had come 
to him, and yet it did not bring the perfect 


MILDRED TUCKER 


15 


peace and happiness he had expected. He 
was extremely fond of his wife and daughter. 
Their happiness was his greatest pleasure, but 
sometimes he wished that so much were not 
expected of his family socially, either accept¬ 
ing invitations or entertaining. It gave them 
so little time to know each other. He, how¬ 
ever, never complained, but as he thought of 
the old home and how the four children, his 
brother Fred and sisters Nancy and Elizabeth, 
used to sit around the tire with his father and 
mother in the living room where there were 
games, books and music to enjoy, and perhaps 
some of the young folks from the neighborhood 
would run in to spend the evening, he could 
not help wishing that his home might be a 
little more like that. They didn't have the 
wealth that he had, and everyone had their 
work to do; but, after all, he thought, one is 
happier when they are giving out something 
to others, and feel they have a part to fill in 
this big old world. He was surprised at him¬ 
self tonight as the words came to him, “What 
doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world 
and lose his own soul?” He had often heard 
his dear old father quote this, and he had 
trained his children never to take advantage 
of anyone in a deal, or fall short in honor or 
honesty for any earthly gain. He had fol¬ 
lowed his father’s instructions along this line 
and was a good, moral man; but tonight, as 


16 


MILDRED TUCKER 


he thought of his mother’s early teaching of 
the meek and lowly Jesus, he somehow felt 
his need of such a Saviour, and determined 
within himself that on the following Sunday 
he would go to the house of God instead of 
spending the morning in his car. 

Mrs. Tucker, who had been reading, laid 
down her book and went to the piano and, 
running her fingers over the keys, began to 
sing some of the old songs she used to sing 
before they were married. She was inter¬ 
rupted by the announcement of Mr. Childs, 
who had called to accompany Mildred to the 
party. Mildred came down looking even pret¬ 
tier than usual in her soft white dress with 
pearl trimmings. Her wealth of hair was like 
a crown of gold, and as you gazed into her 
eyes you felt the power of the soul which 
looked out through those windows. Mildred 
was a fortunate girl for she had inherited 
her mother’s beauty and father’s sunny dis¬ 
position, and she made friends of all she met. 
Running over to her father and mother she 
kissed them goodbye, as had been her custom 
since a child. Then she and Harold started 
for the party. 


CHAPTER II. 


After Mildred had gone, Marguerite went 
into the house and not finding her mother 
downstairs she went to her room. Mrs. Wood- 
son was a frail little woman and was com¬ 
pelled to spend some time each day resting; 
the doctor had told her on account of her 
heart she must lie down a great part of the 
time. She was very ambitious and this was 
very hard for her to do. As they only had one 
maid and a family of five, there was always 
a great deal to be done. “Mother, are you 
feeling badly?” asked Marguerite, as she came 
into the room. 

“Only a little tired, dear; I felt I must rest 
awhile. Did you see the twins in the yard as 
you came in? They haven’t been dressed for 
evening and I wish you would please look after 
them.” 

“Of course, mother dear. This is my work, 
and I want you to turn them over to me and 
not try to do so much. I will find them and 
have them looking spic and span in a few 
moments, although I will not promise they will 
look that way very long.” She immediately 
went to find her two little brothers, Richard 
and Robert, who had just passed their eighth 


18 


MILDRED TUCKER 


birthday. She found them in the back yard 
doing their best trying to build a doll house 
for their little sister Ruth. They all ran to 
meet her and each tried to tell about the won¬ 
derful house they were building and asked her 
to help them. She promised she would on the 
following day and hurried them into the house 
to get ready to see Daddy and for dinner, 
which was nearly ready. 

“Has Edwin come in yet, Ruth?” “Yes, 
Marguerite, he is in the living room reading/* 
Edwin was a young man one year younger 
than Marguerite and they were great chums. 
Mr. Woodson was in the wholesale business 
and Edwin helped in the store during his vaca¬ 
tion. He expected to return to college in a 
few days. Mr. Woodson had come in and had 
gone up to her mother’s room, and together 
they came down stairs. Mr. Woodson putting 
his arm around his wife, helped her, for he 
feared going up and down stairs was too much 
of an effort for her. They were a happy 
family; love shone in their eyes as they 
gathered around the table and, with bowled 
heads, waited while their father gave thanks 
to our Heavenly Father for all the good things 
of life. 

“What have you been doing today, 
Marguerite?” asked her father, as she sat on 
his right and helped him serve. “Mildred 


MILDRED TUCKER 


19 


and I were out in the hills where we had a 
good long talk and gathered a few chestnuts, 
although they are hardly ripe yet. Do you 
know she is to go abroad next month? I do 
so hate to have her go—and shall miss her 
more than I can tell; but it will be lovely for 
her to have this trip and study music while 
away.” “We will all miss Mildred,” said her 
father. “She is a lovely girl and I often think 
if she would devote her life to serving others, 
what an influence for good she might be.” 

“How long will she be gone, Marguerite?”, 
asked Edwin. ‘They are planning to be gone 
at least one year, and possibly two.” Edvdn 
looked down at his plate without replying; 
Marguerite looked up in time to see some¬ 
thing in Edwin’s eyes which told her that he, 
too, would feel deeply Mildred's absence. 
She had never thought of Edwin caring for 
Mildred except as a friend, but as she caught 
the expression which he was trying to hide, 
she knew she had guessed his secret; and in 
her heart she hoped some day Mildred would 
return his love and be her sister indeed. 

After dinner Mr. Woodson said, “How 
many are going to prayer meeting* tonight? 
Mother, do you feel like going?” 

“Yes; I think I will be none the worse, when 
we can ride right to the door.” The children 



20 


MILDRED TUCKER 


want to go, and as Marguerite and Edwin 
always went, Mr. Woodson brought the car 
and they started. As they passed dear old 
Mrs. Randolph’s house they stopped to ask 
if she cared to go. She was delighted to join 
them, and wished she could have the pleasure 
every week. They always made it a point to 
call for someone who could not go unless 
they could ride. 

As they sang the hymns of praise and were 
led in prayer by those everyone felt were striv¬ 
ing each day to live for Christ, they were 
lifted up and felt their strength renewed for 
another week to meet the trials and tempta¬ 
tions of the world. After some brief testi¬ 
monies where each felt free to tell of the 
things that helped or hindered, all felt “The 
Lord was one in their midst and that to bless.” 
The minister turned to Marguerite and asked 
her to sing, “Just When I Need Him, Jesus is 
Near.” As her soft, rich tones rang out and 
every word seemed to come from her heart, 
the minister noticed over to the left was a 
young man who was not a frequent visitor to 
the prayer meeting. As Marguerite sang the 
last verse he noticed there were tears in his 
eyes. As she finished singing the pastor gave 
the usual invitation: “If there is anyone 
present who has never accepted Christ as his 
personal Saviour, and will do so now, please 


MILDRED TUCKER 


21 


come forward;” and immediately this young 
man got up and started down the aisle. He 
had lately come to Riehwood from his home 
in Tennessee, and as he gave the minister his 
hand and Jesus Christ his heart, he turned to 
the congregation and said, “When I came in 
here this evening I little thought I should make 
this the time when I would surrender my life 
to the Lord; but as the words of that beautiful 
hymn were being sung I could see my mother, 
as she bade me goodbye, saying, ‘Remember, 
Charles, ‘Just When You Need Him, Jesus is 
Near,’ and I felt, surely I need Him now.” 

“I am so glad I was invited by Edwin Wood- 
son to attend prayer meeting tonight; as I have 
listened to the prayers and testimonies, I felt 
you all had something which I did not, and I 
saw my need of a Saviour; from this time on 
I hope to make my life count for the cause 
of Christ.” He was unanimously received for 
membership and on the following Sunday was 
to be baptized. 

As they were going home that evening Mr. 
Woodson said: “I was so glad to see Charles 
Douglass take the stand he did tonight; you 
know, he is the young man I was telling you 
about, who a few weeks ago came to work 
for me; he is a good salesman and does his 
work well. I will ask him up to the house to 
spend tomorrow evening.” 


22 


MILDRED TUCKER 


“Do, father,” said Marguerite. “He seems 
so manly, and I am sure we will be glad to 
count him as one of our friends.” They had 
reached home and Marguerite took the chil¬ 
dren and helped them get ready for bed. 

After they had knelt in prayer she tucked 
them mto bed and went to join the rest of the 
family. She had never spoken to them of the 
desire of her heart for she felt at present, 
while her mother needed her, her duty was 
at home; but as Edwin was going away in a 
few days she felt she would like to have a talk 
with him and see what he thought of her 
decision. 

Her father was reading the evening paper 
to her mother, and she said to Edwin, “It is a 
beautiful moonlight night, would you like to 
take a little walk?” 

“Sure, sis; it is some time since we had a 
tramp in the moonlight.” He grabbed his cap 
and arm in arm they started, and as they 
strolled along Marguerite told him of the 
desire of her heart. 


CHAPTER III. 


As Marguerite talked of her hopes and 
plans, Edwin was silent. At last she said to 
him, “Do you approve of my choice?” 

Edwin replied, “Marguerite, I have only 
one objection. What will we do without you? 
I have always felt God would call you for 
special work as I have seen you over and over 
give up your own will to mine and your 
thoughtfulness of others. I want to say I am 
sure no one was ever better fitted to do mission 
work than my own Madge.” He never called 
her that except when they were alone, and 
it seemed to draw her nearer to him. “Do 
you mean to go to the foreign field?” “Wher¬ 
ever the Lord shall lead me. I haven’t yet 
spoken of this to father and mother, for I fear 
they will feel they must make sacrifices 
to give me training, and as mother is not well, 
1 feel I should wait until she is stronger before 
I leave her. I can help her so much with the 
children; when they are older and I am not 
needed so badly at home, then I shall be so 
happy to prepare myself to serve others.” 

“I want to say this, sis; I am so glad you 
never speak ill of anyone, but find the good 
in every life. Many, many times when I would 


24 


MILDRED TUCKER 


me angry and say unkind things of someone, 
you would point out their good Qualities, and 
you have helped me to overcome that fault to 
a great extent.” 

They had walked further than they realized 
and, looking up, saw they were opposite Helen 
Gould’s. The young folks were keeping step 
to the music, and as Mildred whirled past the 
window in the arms of Harold Childs, 
Marguerite said: “I would give anything I 
possess to win Mildred Tucker to Jesus, and 
see her with her wonderful talents laying them 
at the Master’s feet. Help me pray that very 
soon she will accept Him, Edwin?” Edwin 
was silent, and someway he didn’t seem in¬ 
clined to talk of Mildred, although usually he 
was free to speak of her and her charms. 
They went a little further and Marguerite said, 
“Edwin, you have never told me whether you 
have decided to help father in business, or to 
follow a profession.” “I have hardly decided, 
but have thought if I can be spared from home, 
would like to study medicine. That would 
mean four more years after this of hard 
study, and I am not sure I want to now.” 
Marguerite noticed the emphasis on the last 
word but refrained from asking what had 
changed his mind, though she felt pretty sure 
she knew. 

Thinking they had walked far enough they 


MILDRED TUCKER 


25 


turned, and as they passed Helen Gould’s home 
they noticed Mildred and Harold Childs were 
leaving. As they reached the car, Mildred 
noticed Marguerite and Edwin strolling along 
and she thought, “If I had only been with 
them tonight?’ - Some way, to her the party 
was a failure. She tried to put her old en¬ 
thusiasm into her dancing, but for some reason 
she could not enjoy it at all. The words of 
Marguerite seemed stamped on her memory, 
“Laying up treasure in Heaven,” and she kept 
taking an invoice of her life to see if she had 
ever done anything that had lifted another to 
a higher plane of living; she thought how 
selfish she had been to be always thinking of 
her own pleasure. She tried to make excuses 
for herself and said, “I never did anything 
that would hurt anyone, and, anyway, mother 
wishes me to attend parties and be gay,” but 
the more she excused, the more her conscience 
accused; and by the time they had reached 
home she was miserable. Harold had said, 

“Mildred, you are not well. You are not your¬ 
self tonight; don’t you think we had better 
go home?” So they had slipped quietly away 
without letting anyone know they were going. 
Mildred felt she could not explain to Harold 
what was wrong, so when they reached the 
house she said, “I am sorry, Harold, I spoiled 
your evening’s enjovment, but I couldn’t help 
it.” 


26 


MILDRED TUCKER 


“No, indeed, Mildred! You could never 
spoil my enjoyment if I have the pleasure of 
your company. I am always happy when 
with you; but I fear you are not well and 
think you should call a physician.” 

“No, no; don’t even mention it to father or 
mother, if they are still up, for it is nothing’. 
I am going straight to my room, and after a 
right's rest I will be myself again.” So say¬ 
ing goodbye, she hurried into the house and 
to her room. Her father and mother had 
already retired and she was glad she didn’t 
have to explain why she came home so early, 
it being only eleven, and usually it was near 
one o’clock before she got home. 

She hurriedly prepared for bed and all the 
time kept scolding herself for the way she had 
done. “Why is it I did not enjoy the dancing 
this evening?” I am sure the music was fine, 
and my partners were of the best. Oh! I wish 
Marguerite had not said what she did to me 
today. I am going to forget it and go to sleep. 
I mean some time to be a Christian, but not 
now. She lay down, but not to sleep. The 
more she thought, the more miserable she be¬ 
came. At last she thought, I believe I will 
read a few verses in my Bible for a change, 
and the words to which she turned, strange 
to say, were “Lay not up for yourselves 
treasures upon earth, where moth and rust 


MILDRED TUCKER 


27 


doth corrupt and where thieves break through 
and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures 
in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust 
doth corrupt nor thieves break through and 
steal.’’ That was what she was trying to for¬ 
get, and here it was staring at her again. She 
turned the leaves and glanced at different 
verses and the one that caught here eye was, 
“Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise 
cast out.’’ She felt that was to her, and on 
her knees she said, “Oh, Lord, I come. For¬ 
give me for my indifference and from hence¬ 
forth my life shall be Thine.’’ When she 
prayed this prayer she was so happy she could 
hardly believe it possible in a few short mo¬ 
ments to change in such a way. Then she 
knelt by her bed and thanked God for show¬ 
ing her herself and helping her to decide for 
Him. She said, “From henceforth Marguerite 
shall have my company to all services of the 
church. No more worldly pleasures for me, 
there are so many things I can do that will 
bring happiness. What will mother say when 
I tell her?“ She prayed for her father and 
mother and very soon she fell into the sweetest 
sleep she had known for days. 

The next morning Mildred ran over to 
Marguerite’s and called her to take a little 
walk. They chose their favorite path outside 
the city, down a clear stream, and as they 
walked Mildred said: “Marguerite, I have 


28 


MILDRED TUCKER 


something* to tell you. Do you know since our 
conversation yesterday, when you said what 
you did to me about being a Christian and 

that by my service I could be laying up treas¬ 
ure in Heaven, I haven’t been able to put that 
thought out of my mind, and while I did not 
want to go to the party and spend the evening 
dancing, I went anyway, determined I would 
not listen. Even after I got there the words 
kept ringing in my ears, “Laying up treasure 
in Heaven,” and I looked back over my life 
and felt I had never done anything to help 
anybody, and if I should die I would be lost. 
Harold noticed I was not myself and asked me 
to go home early.” Marguerite’s arm stole 
around Mildred and the tears were glistening 
in her eyes as she only pressed her closer and 
listened to those words so dear. “As we came 
away I saw you and Edwin on the other side of 
the street, and I wished I had been with you. 
After I retired I couldn’t sleep, and decided 
to get up and read a little in my Bible. To 
what should I turn but those words of yours 
about ‘laying up treasure in Heaven.’ I w^as 
trying to get away from that, and here it was 
again. I carelessly turned the leaves and 
saw this verse staring at me, ‘Him that cometh 
unto me, I will in no wise cast out.’ I felt I 
couldn’t stand it any longer and on my knees 
confessed my sin and received the greatest 
blessing I ever knew; then I promised from 


MILDRED TUCKER 


29 


henceforth I will serve Jesus. I want to thank 
you for what you said and for your prayers, 
for I know that is why God called me to Him, 
and I shall always love you for it.” 

By this time Marguerite was shedding tears 
of joy and. as she drew Mildred closer to her, 
she said, “Mildred, I was praying for you last 
night, and all at once I felt my prayers were 
answered. It is certainly a happy time, for I 
have felt if I could lead you to Christ I would 
give anything in the world.” 

Mildred asked Marguerite not to speak of 
it until she had first told her father and mother. 
“I hesitate to tell them, especially mother, as 
she gets so much pleasure out of worldly 
things, and' thinks I ought to; but from now 
on I will not attend questionable amusements. 
I think now I will wait until Sunday morning, 
when I will go to church and when the in¬ 
vitation is given, I shall present myself for 
membership.” “Perhaps your father and 
mother will go to church with you.” “I am 
going to try to get them to, and won’t you 
pray that they too may accept Christ and that 
we may all be an unbroken family, serving our 
King?” When they reached home Marguerite 
said, “By the wav, Mildred, the young man I 
spoke of that joined the church last night is 
to spend the evening with us. Can’t you come 
over? He is working for father and came 


MILDRED TUCKER 


SC 

here recently from Tennessee.” “Thank you, 
Marguerite; I would love to. but I promised 
father last night I would spend the evening at 
home and sing for him tonight.” Pressing 
each other’s hand they parted, and each with 
a light heart entered her home. 


CHAPTER IV. 


That evening after dinner, when Mr. and 
Mrs. Tucker and Mildred were seated in the 
drawing room, they began to question Mildred 
as to whether she had a good time at the party. 
Mildred replied, “It was a very pretty party, 
but she did not enjoy the dancing as she usually 
did. It seems such a waste of time to spend 
evenings in that way,” she said. Mrs. Tucker 
looked up and said, “What in the world is com¬ 
ing over you, Mildred; you used to be so fond 
of dancing?” 

“Well, mother; I would rather spend the 
evening with you and father and sing some of 
the good old hymns than to always be at some 
party. I am going to stay at home more than 
I have heretofore. I shall cancel my engage¬ 
ment for tomorrow night and stay with you, 
unless you get tired of me tonight.” 

Mr. Tucker said, “Come, girlie; I am glad 
we are to get acquainted with you again, and 
that we are to have some old-time singing.” 
With that Mildred went to the piano and, pick¬ 
ing up the Hymnal, turned to “Jesus Lover of 
My Soul.” Mr. .and Mrs. Tucker joined in. 
They all had good voices and enjoyed sing¬ 
ing together. They sang several others, among 


MILDRED TUCKER 


O La 


them being, “I Need Thee Every Hour’"; 
“Break Thou the Bread of Life, Dear Lord, 
to Me”; and closed with “Face to Face With 
Thee, My Saviour.” They had scarcely finished 
singing when callers were announced, and the 
rest of the evening was spent with friends. 

After the family prayers and Marguerite 
had put the little ones to bed as usual, she came 
down and found Mr. Douglass had already ar¬ 
rived and the family and he were chatting 
away like old friends. He told them of his 
home near Knoxville, and how his mother re¬ 
plied to the telegram he sent her announcing 
his conversion, with the words, “God be 
praised—letter will follow.” He could hardly 
wait for the letter to come, for he knew how 
overjoyed his mother was, as she had been 
so anxious for him to take this step since a boy 
of thirteen years. He was a graduate of the 
University at Knoxville. After spending some 
time in conversation, Marguerite brought out 
some games and the evening was gone before 
they realized it. When leaving he thanked 
them for an enjoyable evening, and to Mr. 
Woodson’s urgent invitation to feel free to join 
their family circle whenever it suited him, he 
replied he would certainly avail himself of the 
privilege. 

Sunday morning came and it was an ideal 
day. One of those autumn days more like 



MILDRED TUCKER 


33 


spring chan fall, and you can almost imagine 
you see Nature unfolding. After break¬ 
fast, when they were all ready for Sunday 
School, Marguerite said: “Mildred is going 
with me to church this morning. We may not 
be able to get there for Sunday School. How¬ 
ever, if she is dressed in time we will.” “Shall 
I come for you, Marguerite?” asked Edwin. 
“No, thank you. I think possibly Mr. Tucker 
will go; and if not he will take us over in his 
car.” So saying, she ran over to Mildred's 
to find her up and waiting for her to come. 
Marguerite picked out a simple white voile. 
Mildred looked so sweet and girlish, with hap¬ 
piness shining in her eyes. They went down¬ 
stairs and Mildred said, “Father, I am going 
to church with Marguerite this morning. I 
wish you would go wfith me.” 

“All right, Mildred. I shall be glad to go. 
Where is your mother, perhaps she will 
go too.” Mildred went in search of her mother 
and found her dressed apparently for church; 
and as Mildred asked her to accompany them, 
she consented at once; they immediately 
started and though they were a little late, 
were in time for the lesson. Mr. Tucker was 
ushered into the Men’s Bible Class, taught by 
Mr. Woodson, and was given a glad welcome 
and urged to join the class. 

Mrs. Tucker had to admit that the Married 


34 MILDRED TUCKER 

Woman's Bible Class was well worth attend¬ 
ing, and as she joined her husband for the 
church service she thought she would make 
it convenient to come again soon and perhaps 
join the class. She said to Mr. Tucker, “1 
didn’t know so many men and women attended 
the Bible School, and some of our very best 
citizens. I believe we should enjoy coming all 
the time.” 

Marguerite taught a class of young girls 
from thirteen to fifteen, and Mildred visited 
with her. She felt it was a privilege to help 
train the young in the things of the Kingdom, 
and hoped she might have a class after she was 
identified with the church. 

That morning as the choir took their places 
and the magnificent pipe organ pealed out, 
“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow,” 
Mildred thought, “I never knew how pretty it 
was before. Surely I feel like praising Him 
this morning.” The minister announced his 
text, “What shall it profit a man if he 
gain the whole world and lose his own soul, 
or what shall he give in exchange for his 
soul?” 

How strange that he should have selected 
those words which had been ringing in Mr. 
Tucker’s ears for several days. Mr. Tucker 
paid the strictest attention to every word the 


MILDRED TUCKER 


35 


minister said, and as he heard the earnest plea 
to those who were in danger of losing their 
souls, Mr. Tucker thought, “It is time I settle 
this question: and in his heart prayed God 
would help him to confess his need of a 
Saviour.” When the sermon was ended and 
the choir was singing, “Jesus Paid It 
All,” the minister asked if there were any 
present who wished to surrender their lives 
to Jesus and confess Him before men, would 
they come forward. At once, without 
waiting, Mildred arose and started for¬ 
ward. She was surprised when her father 
stepped out into the aisle, but she thought it 
was to let her pass, but instead, without notic¬ 
ing that she was coming, he went down the 
aisle. She was so happy. Stopping, she turn¬ 
ed to her mother and said, “Won’t you join 
us and go too?” After a moment’s hesitation, 
with tears glistening in her eyes, Mrs. Tucker 
arose and went to the front. Every eye was 
dimmed by tears as they saw this family in 
whom they felt a special interest, and who 
w r ould mean so much to the cause of Christ, 
publicly confess their need of a Saviour. As 
they were given an opportunity of confessing 
with the mouth the Lord Jesus, Mildred in clear 
ringing tones told how she had been so wonder¬ 
fully saved on Wednesday night, in answer to 
Marguerite Woodson’s words and prayers. 
She said she had since been praying that when 


36 


MILDRED TUCKER 


she should come to confess her Saviour on Sun¬ 
day morning, God would lead her father and 
mother also to accept Him, and her heart was 
running over with the cup of His Salvation. 

Mr. Tucker told of how on the same even¬ 
ing, as he had thought of his old home and 
his mother’s teaching, he had felt he needed 
a Saviour and had decided then and there that 
on Sunday, instead of spending the morning 
in his car, he would go to church service; that 
when listening to the sermon, which was from 
the same text of scripture which his father 
had impressed on the minds of his boys, he had 
settled the question and made up his mind from 
that day he would live for Christ. 

Mrs. Tucker said: “I had no idea when com¬ 
ing here this morning of publicly confessing 
my need of a Saviour. I have often felt as 
I read the lives of those who showed by their 
living that Jesus was so much to them, that 
I would like to be a Christian; but I have been 
very fond of the world and worldly pleasures, 
and I would put the desire aside and go on in 
my pleasure seeking. Today, when my hus¬ 
band and daughter were brave enough to take 
this stand, I realized I was lost and determined 
to give up everything that stood in my way, 
and live to win others to Him who has so 
marvelously saved me.” 


MILDRED TUCKER 


37 


The minister, with trembling voice, thanked 
God for so richly blessing them all, and for 
hearing prayer for the salvation of this dear 
family. The congregation stood, and with 
voices that rang with praise, sang “More Love 
to Thee, O Christ.” It was announced that 
the baptism would take place at the evening 
service. That evening as the Tucker family 
went down into the water and said by their 
baptism they died to sin and arose to a new 
life, it was a beautiful sight. Following them 
came Mr. Douglass, in his young manhood, 
showing to the world by this act the death and 
resurrection of our Lord, and his own death to 
sin and resurrection to a new life in Christ. 

Little did they know that back in the congre¬ 
gation sat a man who was down in the depths 
of sin; who had done all.he could to hinder 
the cause of Christ, that as he witnessed this 
ordinance he thought if he could only know 
that Christ would wash him, that he might 
be clean! The words came to him, “Though 
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as wool; 
though they be red like crimson, they shall be 
as white as snow.” He thought, Oh! if I could 
bury them all with Christ and arise to a new 
life; Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for 
thee,” but he, too, like so many others, said: 
Not now, but some day I will be a Christian. 


CHAPTER V. 


The next morning as Mr. and Mrs. Tucker 
and Mildred were together in the living room, 
they began to discuss how they could be a help 
to someone; and to use some of the money God 
had given them, for His glory. 

Mr. Tucker said, ‘'From now on I shall keep 
an account and give at least one-fifth of all 
my income to the Lord. I do not want to feel 
I have only paid my debt by giving one-tenth, 
but want to make a love gift to Him for His 
goodness to us.” 

Mildred said, “Father, I know one place you 
can invest it where it will bring good results.” 
“Where, daughter, do you think it will be 
money well spent?” 

“Marguerite Woodson has always wanted to 
be a missionary. I am sure she feels her father 
is not able to give her the needed training for 
this work, although she has never said this to 
me. She also feels she is needed at home to 
help care for the children, as you know they 
only keep one maid and her mother has poor 
health; Marguerite feels she cannot go now, 
although her heart is yearning to be able to 
prepare herself for this work. The question 
is, how to provide the means without them 
feeling under obligations to us; for you know 
Mr. Woodson would not want to feel you were 
giving it to him.” 


MILDRED TUCKER 


39 


Her father said, “You are right, Mildred. 

I do not know any place I could put this money 
where it would bring greater returns for the 
Lord than to prepare Marguerite for her life 
work; and it would be the greatest pleasure 
for me to do it. Don’t you think you can in 
some way arrange it so they will accept it 
without thinking of it as a favor?” 

Mildred said, “I think I can. I am going 
to talk to Marguerite and ask her to allow me 
the privilege of having a part in her work by 
furnishing the means whereby she can hire 
a maid to care for the children, and pay her 
expenses at the Training School, so' she can 
enter at once on her preparation. Don’t you 
believe she will, since she led me to Christ, 
and she knows I love her for it and want to 
have a part in the work of Christ?” 

Mr. Tucker said, “I think she will. Surely 
she will accept it, and not allow any false 
pride to hinder the work of the Master.” 

That morning as Mr. Tucker entered the 
bank, he began to think of those in his em¬ 
ploy, and wondered if they received a suffi¬ 
cient salary to keep their families in comfort. 
The first thing he did was to call the cashier 
and get a list of what each man was receiv¬ 
ing for his work. As he went over the list, 
he was surprised that he had never given this 
any thought before. Surely, when these men 


40 


MILDRED TUCKER 


were working early and late and under the 
higher cost of living, they deserved an increase 
in salary. He immediately saw to it that each 
man had a sufficient increase to allow him to 
live at least comfortably. He then thought 
he would invite the force to his home for an 
evening, and get personally acquainted with 

them. Perhaps he might be able to help them 
in more ways than one. 

There was great rejoicing in the Bank when 
they received their next pay to find they had 
received a 25 per cent increase. Each man 
went to the cashier, not knowing it was gen¬ 
eral, and thinking there was some mistake. He 
explained to them, through the kindness of the 
president this was done, and they of course 
had a great deal of respect for a man who, 
without being requested by anyone, had given 
them more than they could have hoped for. 

There was certainly rejoicing in the Wood- 
son home that Sunday evening. Marguerite 
was never happier in her life than then, for 
she loved Mildred dearly. She had been pray¬ 
ing with her for Mr. and Mrs. Tucker, and 
to think God had answered so soon! Mr. 
Douglass had accompanied her home and they 
had so much to talk of, as he, too, was so 
happy in the new found life to which God had 
called him. He told her of his mother’s letter, 
and how she had said that on that Wednesday 


MILDRED TUCKER 


41 


evening she had been so burdened for his 
salvation and how she had prayed. It seemed 
her heart would break if he did not accept 
Christ as his personal Saviour; then when the 
telegram came, it seemed it was right from 
Heaven itself. He told her a little more of his 
family life, and Marguerite realized why Mrs. 
Douglass was so anxious for him to accept 
Christ. His father died when he was a child 
without publicly confessing Christ. Of 
course, they hoped that while he was un¬ 
conscious, God spake peace to his soul; but 
they had no assurance that he was saved. 
Ilis mother had married his father when it was 
against her family’s wishes, because he was 
not a Christian, and rather wild. While he 
had always been good to her, still there was 
not that oneness that comes by both being 
born again. Consequently, they had no family 
altar, and he had never had the pleasure of 
hearing his father lead in prayer. His mother 
used to take him to her room when he was 
a little boy and read to him out of the Scrip¬ 
ture, and ask God to call him into service for 
Himself. He said, “I think I will also have 
some more good news for mother, for I feel 
that prayer is to be answered, too. I am more 
and more convinced that God wants to send 
me to the uttermost parts of the earth to 
preach the Gospel; as soon as I can see my 
way clear to go to the Theological Seminary, I 


42 


MILDRED TUCKER 


want to enter and prepare myself for this 
work.” 

Marguerite wished him Godspeed, and 
wanted to tell him that she, too, hoped to go 
as a missionary some day; but she refrained, 
as she had not yet spoken to her parents of 
her plans. 

As Edward was to leave on Tuesday for 
Cambridge for his last year in college, the 
young people were to have a picnic on Mon¬ 
day evening, going in automobiles fifteen 
miles from Richwood, taking their suppers and 
returning by moonlight. Marguerite asked 
Mr. Douglass if he would join them, to which 
he gladly agreed if he could be away from 
the store. Mr. Woodson said, “Sure; go on 
and have a good time.” It was arranged he 
was to call for Marguerite, and, looking at 
his watch, he arose to go. Marguerite walked 
to the door with him and said, “I was so glad 
fco hear what you told me tonight; that you 
intend going as a missionary to the foreign 
field. Some day I will tell you something, 
but not just yet.” He said, “I shall be mighty 
glad to hear it, and will look forward to the 
time when you will tell me. What time shall 
we start on the picnic?” 

“About two o’clock.” “All right; I will be 
on time. Goodbye.” 


CHAPTER VI. 


The next afternoon was bright and clear. 
At two o’clock the young folks, with Mrs. 
Tucker as chaperon, started on their journey. 
There were eight couples, and Edwin went 
with Mildred. He looked very happy and con¬ 
tented; he felt this would be his opportunity 
to speak to Mildred of his love. The three 
cars were soon filled, and Edwin took the 
lead. In this car were Mrs. Tucker, Evelyn 
Barr, Curtis Powell, Marguerite and Mr. 
Douglass, Mildred and Edwin. They were 
soon outside the city on the good roads, en¬ 
joying the scenery and fresh air. The other 
cars were not far behind them and they were 
a jolly crowd. It was an ideal day; the girls 
had prepared a tempting lunch, and, too, they 
were going to fry some bacon and eggs, just 
for the fun of it. They had an extra car to 
bring the baskets, and the boys had slipped 
in a freezer of orange ice, of which the girls 
were unaware. 

After driving about an hour they came to 
the spot where they were to spend the after¬ 
noon. They unloaded the car with the bas¬ 
kets and, like most young folks full of life, 
they saw all the things of interest; played 


44 


MILDRED TUCKER 


fames, fished, and had a good time generally. 
Mrs. Tucker had brought her fancy work; as 
the young folks played or strolled around, she 
was busy studying their tastes and suggesting 
things that might interest them. After they 
had finished their game, Edwin said to Mil¬ 
dred, “Let’s take a little walk and explore 
that path along the water.’’ They started and 
soon were some little distance away from the 
crowd, when Edwin said, “Marguerite tells me 
you are going abroad.’’ Mildred said, “Yes; 
that was our plan, but since Sunday I haven’t 
heard mother mention it, and it may be that 
our plans will be changed. To be frank, I am 
not sure I care to go and leave father for so 
long.’’ 

“How long had you expected to be away?’’ 

“We thought to be gone a year at least; 
possibly we would stay two. Father expected 
to come to us in a year, and we would decide 
then whether we would prolong our stay.” 

“I hope you will change your mind, for a 
year seems such a long time. Still, I know 
it would be very interesting to travel and see 
so many things of interest.” 

“Do you know, Mildred, when Marguerite 
told me that, I felt I must see you and reveal 
to you what I had promised myself I would 


MILDRED TUCKER 


45 


not tell you until I had finished college; but 
it is a year yet, and I could not wait any longer 
and run the risk of seeing someone win you. 
No doubt you will be surprised, Mildred, to 
know that for a year I have loved you as a 
man can love a woman only once in his life, 
i have thought of you the first thing in the 
morning and the last thing at night. In. fact, 
have been with you many times in my dreams. 
I know I am young, and am not in a position 
to offer you my hand in marriage for a few 
years; but if you will only give me the assur¬ 
ance that you love me, and will wait until I 
can give you a home worthy of such a girl as 
- you are, I shall be the happiest man living.” 
He waited, and, as Mildred looked down at 
the ground, she said: “Edwin, I never dreamed 
you cared for me, only as a friend; I feel 
honored that such a splendid young man as 
you are should feel towards me as you do; 
but, really, I do not think I love you in the 
way you speak of.” 

“Mildred, don’t you think you can love me? 
Is there anyone else that occupies first place 
in your heart?” 

“No, Edwin; I am heart-free. I have never 
given marriage much thought, although I 
knew some day I would meet and love some¬ 
one. I do not say I will never love you; and 
am free to say, if I find that I do care for you 


46 


MILDRED TUCKER 


in that way, Edwin, I shall let you know at 
once. It is true we are both young to 
decide these matters; so let us be the best 
of friends until you have finished college, and 
by that time perhaps you will see someone 
else you care more for, and I shall have that 
time to know my own heart; then I will give 
you my answer.*' 

Edwin had to be content with this, but it 
seemed a long time to wait. He would soon 
be twenty, and Mildred was nineteen. They 
promised to write often. Mildred had to con¬ 
fess to herself she was glad Edwin loved her; 
but she w r as not sure she cared enough for 
him to give him her promise. They decided 
to go back to the crowd, as it was time for 
lunch. As they started back, Edwin threw 
his arm around Mildred and drew her to him, 
saying, “I must seal my love with a kiss." 
Without waiting for her consent, he pressed 
his lips to hers with all the love of his soul 
in that kiss. Mildred thought, after all, it is 
not much use to wait, for I am sure now I love 
Edwin. But she didn’t tell him so, which after¬ 
ward she so much regretted. 

When they reached the rest of the crowd, 
they said, “Where have you been? We have 
been looking for you, and see, you might have 
missed your lunch, had you stayed longer." 
The lunch was all prepared, even the bacon 


MILDRED TUCKER 


47 


and eggs fried, and how tempting everything 
looked. They all were hungry and soon found 
places around the table, which happened to 
be the ground; but with the snow-white cloth 
and with plates which didn’t have to be 
washed, and in this lovely setting, it tasted 
better than if served in the finest home. As 
they were all seated, Mrs. Tucker said, “Shall 
we return thanks to Him who has provided 
so liberally for our wants?” and called on 
Edwin to ask the blessing, which he did in 
clear tones and in an impressive manner. 
They all ate until they could eat no more. 
The orange ice was especially enjoyed, as it 
%vas a surprise. They picked up the things 
that were left and thought, possibly we will 
see someone on our way home to whom we 
can give them. When they saw it was three 
o’clock they decided to start home and drive 
around another way, which would probably 
take an hour and a half. As they were all 
seated and each one declaring they had the 
finest lime of their lives, wishing Edwin suc¬ 
cess in his studies and all his undertakings, 
they started off. This time Edwin and his 
party were last instead of first and took their 
time to enjoy everything as they went along. 
They had gone possibly ten miles, when they 
came to a sharp curve and, not being familiar 
with the road, they went too close to the 
embankment, and the car turned over. Every- 


4 8 


MILDRED TUCKER 


one screamed at once, but most of them 
jumped and saved themselves. Edwin, who 
was on the lower side, was the only one in¬ 
jured, the car falling on him. Of course, they 
were all terribly frightened; the boys grabbed 
the car and, lifting it off of Edwin, found him 
unconscious. Marguerite and Mildred, with 
tears running down their cheeks, were bath¬ 
ing his face and rubbing his hands, but he 
hadn’t yet regained consciousness. Mr. Doug¬ 
lass said, “We will put him in the car and run 
to the nearest town with him to find a doctor;” 
so saying, he was lifted into the back seat and 
Marguerite and Mildred sat with him, while 
Mr. Douglass drove as fast as was safe to the 
little town three miles away. By that time 
Edwin opened his eyes and said, “What is the 
matter? Where are we?” The doctor, after 
examining him, said he had a fractured rib 
and was badly bruised otherwise. He hoped 
there were no internal injuries. It was such 
a relief when they reached home and Edwin 
was carried in with as little excitement as pos¬ 
sible, in order not to alarm his mother. Mr. 
and Mrs. Woodson, as usual, were in the liv¬ 
ing room, and Mrs. Woodson had her mending 
in her lap, when they heard them coming. 
They went to the door to meet them and found 
them carrying Edwin in. “Oh, my! What 
has happened? Mv boy, my boy; are you 
hurt?” 


MILDRED TUCKER 


49 


“No, not much, mother. I will be all right 
in a little while .’ 7 She saw he was trying to 
put on a brave face. White as a sheet, she 
was about to fall, when Mr. Woodson caught 
her. They carried her into the living room 
and laid her on the couch, and succeeded in 
getting Edwin upstairs and in bed. Then Mr. 
Woodson said, “Tell me what has happened, 
and how badly Edwin is hurt.” They told 
him of the accident and what the doctor had 
said. He was not satisfied, and sent for his 
physician, who came at once. Seeing Mrs. 
Woodson in a serious condition, he stopped to 
give her some heart stimulant, at the request 
of Marguerite, who sat beside her. Going up¬ 
stairs two steps at a time, he looked very 
grave as he saw how ashen Edwin was, and 
examined him thoroughly. He found he had 
struck his head in falling, and there was quite 
a lump on the back of his head, which, he 
feared, might cause concussion of the brain. 
Every little while Edwin would sink into un¬ 
consciousness, and his condition became more 
alarming as time went on. 

Dr. Moore never left him all night. He 
kept ice bags on his head and bathed his feet 
in very warm water to draw the blood from 
his head. By morning he seemed a little bet¬ 
ter, but the danger was not passed. No one 
was allowed in his room but Marguerite, who 
nursed him according to the doctor’s instruc- 


50 


MILDRED TUCKER 


tions. Mrs. Woodson was herself again and 
busied herself preparing bandages and every¬ 
thing needed for Edwin. Dr. Moore had dif¬ 
fered with the other doctor in his diagnosis; 
as he said there were no bones broken, but 
he was terribly bruised. 


CHAPTER VII. 

Mildred had gone home with a heavy heart 
when the doctor had expressed his fears of 
concussion of the brain. She had realized in 
those few hours what Edwin was to her and 
she thought, if I had only told him last night 
when he kissed me. Oh! if he should not get 
well, I would always regret that I did not tell 
him. He looked so sad and unhappy when I 
said he must wait. She prayed with all her 
soul that God would spare him to her and 
that, without waiting, she might tell him that 
she knew now that she loved him with all her 
heart. 

The next morning before breakfast she 
slipped over and going on upstairs without 
ringing the bell, she tapped lightly on Edwin’s 
door. Marguerite opened the door, and see¬ 
ing Mildred look so worried and unhappy, she 
told her to come in and sit beside Edwin for 
a little while to see if he would know her. 
How her heart bled as she saw him looking 
so pale and weak. She knelt by his bed and 
laying her face against his, she poured out 
her love for him in the presence of Mar¬ 
guerite ; but poor Edv/in did not know that 
the girl he w r ould give his life for w T as kneel¬ 
ing beside him and trying so hard to make 
him know his love was returned. Every little 
while in his unconsciousness Edwin would be 
telling Mildred of his love and asking her to 
please promise him she would be his wife. It 


52 


MILDRED TUCKER 


broke her heart to think she might have saved 
him all this sorrow had she told him when 
she realized it last night. All morning she 
sat beside him while Marguerite had a little 
rest, and how she patted his cheek and spoke 
endearing words to him. She didn’t want to 
be away from him a moment, for fear he 
would return to consciousness, and she 
wanted him to know of her love, which would 
relieve his mind and make him happy. 

When the doctor came back about ten o’clock 
and saw Mildred sitting beside Edwin he was 
glad, for during the night he had learned 
Edwin’s secret; he had raved in delirium of 
his love for Mildred, and Dr. Moore saw by 
her expression that his love was not in vain. 
He told her he was glad she was there, for 
if Edwin should regain consciousness it might 
save his life to see her beside him. Mildred 
said, “You do not think he will die, do you, 
Doctor?” “My dear little girl, I hope not. 
We can hardly tell; but if he lives through the 
day, I will have hopes of him.” 

How earnestly Mildred prayed that he 
might get well, and how Mr. and Mrs. Wood- 
son and Marguerite poured out their hearts 
to God to spare him to them. Mrs. Tucker 
had come over and was keeping Mrs. Wood- 
son cheered up and not allowing her to go 
beyond her strength in her efforts to do some- 


MILDRED TUCKER 


53 


thing for Edwin. At two o’clock that morn¬ 
ing, as Marguerite and Mildred sat by his bed, 
Edwin opened his eyes and said, “What has 
happened?” 

Mildred leaned over and kissed him and asked 
if he knew her. His face lit up as he recog¬ 
nized Mildred, and he said, “Are you here, 
Mildred? I am so glad you came.” She 
whispered in his ear, “Edwin, I love you with 
all my heart.” How perfectly happy he look¬ 
ed as he tried to draw her to him. She said, 
“You must lie perfectly still now; but I will 
not leave you, and you will soon be well. I 
knew last night when you kissed me that 1 
loved you, and I have been so sorry that 1 
didn’t tell you then; but I never would have 
known how much I love you if you hadn’t been 
hurt.” 

He said, “Thank God for that accident then, 
for if I don’t get well, I shall die happy.” 
Mildred said, “You must get well, for my 
sake. Go to sleep now, and remember, I am 
right here beside you.” 

He closed his hand over hers and fell into 
a sweet sleep. When he awoke about eight 
o’clock next morning he was decidedly bet¬ 
ter, and the doctor said it would only be a 
short time now until he would be himself 
again. 


54 


MILDRED TUCKER 


How happy Mildred and Edwin were as she 
sat beside him and he knew that some day 
she would be his wife. She had hard work 
keeping* him from talking too much and thus 
overtaxing his strength. He was very weak 
and must be extremely careful for a few 
days. Mildred told him she must go over 
home for a little while, but she w^ould soon 
be back. She kissed him and told him to rest 
while she was gone so he could talk to her 
when she got back. He followed her with 
his eyes as she left the room, and oh! how 
full of joy they were as he thought he need 
not wait for a year for her answer. 

Mildred went direct to her mother’s room, 
and said, “I have something to tell you.” She 
then told her how Edwin had declared his love 
for her on the previous day, and the answer 
she had made him. How she had felt when 
he was hurt and she realized she loved him, 
and regretted so much she had not told him 
when she realized it. She told how he had 
called for her in his delirium and how happy 
they were since he knew that she loved him. 
There was a time when Mrs. Tucker would 
have been very much vexed at Mildred for 
loving a poor man, but not so now. She felt 
probably they would be much happier than 
if they were rich and not Christians, so she 
put her arms around her daughter and said, 
“I am so glad for you, dear, since you love 


MILDRED TUCKER 


55 


Edwin so much. He is a fine young man, and 
I am sure will make us all proud of him some 
clay. Of course you are both so young and 
he hasn't finished college, so I do not think 
it wise to announce your engagement at 
present. Do you?” “Not just now, mother. 
Probably we will have to wait for a year, but 
that seems a long time. We will talk of that 
later.” 

Mildred went to her room to rest, and as 
she had been up all night she soon fell asleep 
and did not waken until nearly dinner time. 
As the maid was arranging her hair that even¬ 
ing she paid the strictest attention. She had 
been thinking as she was lying on the bed, 
why should I be waited on in this manner? 
Why not spare Janet to the Woodsons, for she 
knew how fond she was of children, and she 
felt Marguerite might consent to her plan if 
she could have as capable a maid as Janet. 
She had not spoken of this to her father and 
mother, which she wished to do before men¬ 
tioning it to Marguerite. As soon as dinner 
was over she said, “Father, I want to speak 
to you and mother about an idea I have had 
today.” She explained to them that she did 
not think she needed anyone to wait on her, 
and asked if it would be all right when mak¬ 
ing the proposition to Marguerite, if she 
should offer to loan her Janet. Her mother 
said, “Why, Mildred; you have been accus- 


56 


MILDRED TUCKER 


tomed to being waited on all your life. I be¬ 
lieve you do not realize what it would mean to 
do anything- for yourself.” Mildred replied 
that she thought she would be happier to do 
this, to do for herself, and with their consent, 
she would like to try it. Her father said, “All 
right, Mildred; if you feel this way about it. 
I think myself Marguerite might be more 
likely to accept your offer, as she knows 
Janet, how thoughtful and capable she is, and 
would feel the children were in good hands.” 

“Janet would be so good to Mrs. Woodson, 
too,” said Mildred. “I think when I explain 
to Janet why I would like her to go, she will 
consent, for she is very conscientious and will 
be glad to be of any help to anybody.” And 
so it was arranged that Mildred should speak 
to Marguerite at her earliest opportunity, so 
if the arrangement could be made, she could 
enter the Training School the last of October. 

Mildred said, “I am going over now to see 
how Edwin is, and, if possible, I will see Mar¬ 
guerite while I am there. Mother, you may 
tell father my secret while I am gone.” 

So saying, she hurried over to the Wood- 
sons and found Edwin looking like another 
person. He, like his sister, had beautiful 
brown eyes and hair; his color had returned 
to his cheeks and with a happy smile he drew 


MILDRED TUCKER 


57 


Mildred to him and said, “You are the best 
doctor I know. Just look at me, and it is be¬ 
cause of what I have to look forward to that 
I am improving so rapidly.” Mildred was ail 
smiles, and as she sat down beside him, said, 
“When does the doctor say you may get up?” 
“I am going to sit up tomorrow morning, and 
I expect to go to Cambridge Saturday, in 
order to enter school Monday. I do not want 
to miss any more than is necessary.” 

They feel that they have so much to talk 
about before that time, so we will leave them 
alone while they discuss their future. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

The children had gone to school, and when 
Mildred came the next morning, slipping her 
hand in Marguerite’s, asked her, since Mrs. 
Woodson was with Edwin, if they could go for 
a little stroll, as she had many things to tell 
her. She felt Marguerite needed the fresh air, 
and, too, she could talk to her better of the 
things in her heart down by the brook. 

It was a delightful morning and all nature 
seemed in tune with the throbbings of her 
heart, and how the birds were singing. 
Everyone she met seemed to look happier, 
Mildred thought. Perhaps it was the reflec¬ 
tion of her own happiness in the faces of 
others. She said, “Marguerite, I have some¬ 
thing to tell you which makes me so happy, 
and I hope it will make you just as happy. 
You are as near to me as a sister could pos¬ 
sibly be, and now, since some day I am to be 
your sister indeed, it seems too good to be 
true. I have wished so many times you were 
my really, truly sister!” Marguerite said, 
“Nothing could be sweeter to me than to know 
this, Mildred. We all love you dearly, and 
will so gladly welcome you into our family.” 

“Marguerite, after what you have done for 
me by your prayers and lovely example, I 


MILDRED TUCKER 


59 


just feel I want to do something that will help 
in the work of the Lord, and know of no bet¬ 
ter way than to make it possible for you to 
go on with the preparation for your life work. 
I know the desire of your life is to do this— 
and yet you are so self-sacrificing, you always 
think of others first—and by this, as in a 
million ways, you have taught me a lesson. 
I thought when Janet was waiting on me last 
evening, why should I be waited on like a 
baby? I am able to do these things for my¬ 
self, and now I know what I am going to do; 
Janet is such a good, conscientious girl, and 
loves children dearly, so I am going to loan 
her to Mrs. Woodson to help care for her and 
the children; then Marguerite can go to the 
Training School this fall. Now, Marguerite 
(as she started to speak), you must not inter¬ 
rupt me until I am through. You know for 
years we have had all that heart could wish, 
and I want to say to you it hasn’t given me 
half the happiness that I have had since 
thinking of others, and father and mother feel 
the same, I know. Father said, the other 
evening, he was going to give one-fifth of his 
income to the cause of the Lord; I told him 
what your desire had been, and I felt the best 
investment I knew would be to provide you 
with the means that it would take and a maid 
to help at home. Now, my dear girl, if you 
say one word against this, it will hurt me more 


GO 


MILDRED TUCKER 


than I can tell you, for I feel God has shown 
me I can in this way do something for Him. 
I feel sure your father and mother will be 
very happy when they find you have given 
your life in service to our King, as they are 
such consecrated Christians. So now, please 
clo not hesitate to allow us this pleasure. My 
father said it would be the greatest pleasure 
in the world to him, and if you refuse it you 
might dampen his enthusiasm in the work of 
the Lord. ,, 

Marguerite said, “Mildred, I cannot thank 
you in words for your generous offer. I have 
been praying if God would have me go at once, 
that He would provide the way; I feel He has 
put this into your heart so how could I refuse? 
This has given me more happiness than any¬ 
thing you could do for me, and I am sure now 
God is leading me; I can go knowing He has 
a place for me to fill. And, too, your father, 
with his wealth, will be able to do so much 
for the advancement of the cause of Christ/’ 
And out there, in that sacred spot, with no 
one to disturb them, Marguerite and Mildred 
sat while Marguerite poured out her heart 
in thankfulness to God for another 
answer to prayer; she prayed for His 
richest blessings to be upon Mildred, her 
father and mother, for their devotion to the 
cause of the Master and their thoughtfulness 
in providing a way for her to enter upon the 


MILDRED TUCKER 


61 


work of the Kingdom. 

“How wonderfully the Heavenly Father 
does hear the prayers of His children, and 
when it is for the advancement of His King¬ 
dom, He gives us the answer,” said Mildred. 

“When do you go away, Mildred?” Mar¬ 
guerite asked as they started for home. Mil¬ 
dred said she hoped their plans would be 
changed, as she didn’t want to leave her father 
for so long. “I am going to talk with father 
and mother about it probably tonight.” 

When Marguerite reached home she went 
directly to Edwin’s room and found Mrs. 
Woodson and Edwin talking earnestly. He 
had told his mother about his engagement to 
Mildred, and how he wanted to make the most 
of his time in school this year. He was say¬ 
ing he hoped he could get something to do on 
Saturdays and help along with the expense. 
Mrs. Woodson was happy to know Mildred 
reciprocated his love; but she said, “Edwin, 
dear, Mildred has everything that heart could 
wish and it will be years before you can offer 
her a home; probably never one so good as 
the one in which she has been reared. Are 
you sure she lo^es you enough to be willing 
to sacrifice for your sake?” 

“Yes, mother; I have spoken of this and of 
how long it would take to provide such a home 


62 


MILDRED TUCKER 


as she deserves; but she would not allow me 
to mention about riches. She says since she 
is a Christian, she has more real happiness 
than with all her wealth; that a real home 
is not made up of fine houses and furniture 
with servants to attend to everything; but 
where husband and wife are one in Christ— 
and their ambitions and desires the same. 
Where tastes differ, there cannot be perfect 
harmony. That is, where one knows Jesus 
Christ, and his interest is in things of the 
Kingdom; and the other doesn’t care for the 
Church and its work.” 

“I am sure she is right, and if she enters 
upon married life with these view's, I have no 
fears as to your happiness.” 

The children came in from school full of 
life and enthusiasm and went up to tell Edwin 
everything that had happened during the day. 
Mr. Woodson came a little later and was so 
pleased to see the marked improvement in 
Edwin, and that he would be able to go down 
to dinner with them. Dr. Moore had found 
when he examined Edwin that he had no 
broken bones, his rib was just bruised and 
now he was gaining strength rapidly. With 
the aid of his father he w r as able to go down¬ 
stairs, and was determined to do so; he 
wanted surely to be able to leave Saturday 
for Cambridge. His father was afraid he was 


MILDRED TUCKER 


63 


rushing too much and said, “Son, I believe 
you should wait until Monday; this is Friday, 
and I fear you are hardly ready for the trip 
Tomorrow. However, we will see what Dr. 
Moore says about it.” 

That evening Marguerite decided to tell her 
father and mother her desire, and how God 
had opened the way. She told them how God 
had seemed to call her more than a year ago, 
and how' she felt she could not be spared from 
home while her mother was not well; she had 
prayed if it were God’s will for her to go 
now, He would provide the way; how Mildred 
had come to her begging that she allow her 
to do this for her because she wanted to help 
in the work of the Lord, and of Mr. Tucker’s 
intention of giving for the advancement of 
the Kingdom. Mr. and Mrs. Woodson were so 
happy. Mr. Woodson said, “I feel honored 
that God has called one of our children in 
special service to Himself; of course, we can¬ 
not say no, under the circumstances. It is too 
plainly the leading of the Holy Spirit.” 

Mrs. Woodson, with tears in her eyes, said, 
“i, too, am thankful for the w r ay God is lead¬ 
ing, and while we shall miss Marguerite more 
than we can express, we must not think of 
cur happiness first. We gladly give our con¬ 
sent for you to enter upon the greatest work 
in the world—winning souls for the Master.” 


64 


MILDRED TUCKER 


It was decided that Marguerite should leave 
the following week for Louisville, to enter 
the Training School; so she went upstairs to 
look over her clothes and get them in readi¬ 
ness. 

Edwin’s trunk was already packed, but the 
doctor thought he should wait until the 1 a. m. 
train Monday morning; they were glad they 
were to have one more Sunday together. This 
would not make him very late, as he would 
reach college Monday afternoon, in time to 
be enrolled. Edwin had been up for some 
time, so his father helped him upstairs and 
said, “in another day you will be as good as 
new.” 

Marguerite always kept her clothes in order, 
so she didn’t have much trouble in getting 
them together and pressed, ready to pack in 
her trunk. She thought she had everything 
she needed, but Mrs. Woodson said, “You 
must have a new suit, Marguerite. The one 
you have will be all right for everyday wear, 
but you need a good one for best.” So it was 
decided they would go down street in the 
morning and select a suit, with hat, gloves and 
shoes to match. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Woodson were in their 
room, they were speaking of how they should 
miss Marguerite and Edwin. Mr. Woodson 


MILDRED TUCKER 


65 


said, “It seems to me no parents ever had 
children that gave them so little trouble.” 
Mrs. Woodson replied, “A great deal of the 
credit is due you, for you remember when 
they were small you were very firm with them, 
and led them in the right. It is true they are 
exceptionally good children, but there was a 
time when, if they had been allowed to have 
their own way, I fear we should not have been 
as proud of them as v^e are today. Some¬ 
times I fear Richard and Robert are going to 
be harder to control; you must not allow them 
to get ahead of you, for it is for their good if 
you must at times seem to be cross with them.” 
“You are right, mother; I have been worried 
about that myself, as they have lately began 
to assert their rights; w T e must be firm and 
give them the right start in life. Of course, 
it is easier to overlook their faults than to 
punish them for them, but it would not be fair 
to them. When I see how some children of 
today speak to their parents, my blood boils 
within me—but I feel the fault lies with the 
father and mother because they did not cor¬ 
rect them while they w T ere small.” 

Going into the children’s room where they 
w r ere sleeping so sweetly, it didn’t seem pos¬ 
sible they could ever be naughty, and both 
father and mother kissed them softly before 
retiring for the night. 


CHAPTER IX. 


Mildred decided when she reached home 
that she would go down to the bank and come 
home with her father. She used to do that 
quite often, but of late she had been so busy 
with other things she had neglected to go. 
Her father was always glad to see her; she 
felt she would like to have a little talk with 
him all alone. So after lunch, when she had 
rested for a little while, she arranged her hair 
for the first time and she never looked pret¬ 
tier. She hadn’t yet spoken to Janet of her 
plan; she wanted to see how she would get 
along, and this was a good time to try. She 
laid out her blue silk voile, just the shade of 
her eyes, and a favorite dress of her fathers. 
With white shoes and hat she was beautiful 
to look at; going down stairs, she met Janet 
coming up. She was very much surprised to 
see Miss Mildred dressed and going out, and 
inquired if she rang for her. Mildred replied, 
“No, I wanted to see if I could arrange my¬ 
self. How do I look?” “You couldn’t be im¬ 
proved upon,” Janet said. Mildred was pleased 
that she had no trouble the first time she at¬ 
tempted it. Going down to the bank, she in¬ 
quired of the cashier if her father was en- 


MILDRED TUCKER 


67 


gaged. He went to find out and came back 
to usher her into his office. Her father didn’t 
turn around until he heard the door close, and 
looked up to see his daughter standing near 
him. 

“Why, Mildred; this is a treat. You haven’t 
been down to see me lately. How pretty you 
look today!” as she stooped to kiss him. “Do 
I look as well as usual?” she asked. “You 
never looked prettier.” “And I did it all my¬ 
self, father, so you see I am not helpless, after 
all.” She sat down and all at once Mr. Tucker 
remembered what Mrs. Tucker had told him 
about her engagement; he tried to be calm as 
he said, “Y r our mother told me of your engage¬ 
ment, Mildred; I am glad you are so happy. 
It is pretty hard for me to realize you are any¬ 
thing but a child, but I guess it is true you are 
as old as your mother was when we were mar¬ 
ried. Anyway, it will be several years yet be¬ 
fore you will marry, will it not?” 

“Yes, father; it will be some time. Edwin 
hasn’t finished college and he was telling me 
last night he had hoped to be a physician— 
which, if he does, will mean four years more 
of study. He hasn’t fully made up his mind 
and may decide to go in business with his 
father at the end of this year.” 

“What I came down to talk to you about 
is this: I would rather not go abroad, unless 


GS 


MILDRED TUCKER 


you can go with us—if you can go it will be 
a wonderful trip; and perhaps as we view the 
ruins of France and Belgium, we may find 
where we may render a very great help to 
those people, and thus unto our Lord.” 

Mr. Tucker said, “I hardly think it wise for 
me to leave at this time, but will think it over 
and we can decide later. Why have you 
changed your mind about going with your 
mother to spend a year abroad?” 

“I do not care to be away from you for so 
long; there are so many places of interest in 
our own country which I have not seen, and 
in which you could probably join us; and I 
prefer these to going without you. The time 
would be very long to you with us away for a 
year, I am sure.” 

“It certainly would; but do not let that 
stand in your way if you care to go. I believe 
your mother feels as you do about it, for she 
said last night if it would not be too great a 
disappointment to you, she thought she would 
rather not go.” 

“I haven’t spoken to mother, for I feared 
she would be the one to be disappointed; so 
now I am sure our plans will be changed.” 

“By the way, father, why couldn’t we start 
a home for those poor orphan children in 
Armenia. After that was established and in 


MILDRED TUCKER 


69 


running order, we would feel we had a real, 
live interest over there; and our trip would 
mean so much more to us. I would like to use 
Ihe money you intended to spend on music for 
me, for that purpose/’ 

Her father leaned back in his chair and 
thought for some little time before making a 
reply. He then said, “I will think about it. 
I do not know whether I could undertake a 
thing like that or not.” 

Mildred did not say any more; she felt if it 
were best, her father would decide in the right 
way, so she left it to him. 

As they left the bank Mr. Tucker took time 
to introduce his daughter to all of the clerks, 
a thing which he had never done before. They 
had often seen her and admired her, but hadn’t 
known her. He had planned to have them to 
his home the following Tuesday evening, and 
knew they would feel more like coming if they 
knew how sweet and gracious Mildred was to 
everyone. 

When Mildred and her father reached home, 
being Saturday, it was earlier than usual, they 
found Mrs. Tucker away. She came in a little 
later, and when asked where she had been, 
said, “I have been down on Vine Street to see 
a family that the cook told me was in destitute 


70 


MILDRED TUCKER 


circumstances. I never saw such poverty, and 
I wonder how I could have lived here all these 
years without even thinking of those around 
me that needed help. The mother is sick, and 
there are five little children, the eldest being 
only tw r elve years old. She had all the work 
to do and to look after her mother, so of course 
she couldn’t keep things clean. They had so 
little in their home to make them comfortable 
that it made me feel what a sinner I have 
been to enjoy everything that heart could wish 
without giving a thought to the poor around 
me. I want you to go down there with me this 
evening; let’s make them happy by fixing up 
the children, making the mother comfortable 
and giving them enough to eat. The father 
is a hard-working man and it is easy to see 
that they have not always lived as they do 
now. Mrs. Thompson is a well-bred little 
woman and her children are well behaved. 
I got a nurse to take care of her and told them 
J would be back this evening to see how 
they were getting along. I went to the store 
and bought an outfit for each of the children, 
and bedclothes, gowns, etc., to make Mrs. 
Thompson comfortable. I think we will have 
to get a new bed, for that looked anything but 
inviting.” 

When dinner was over Mrs. Tucker fixed 
up some tempting things to carry to the sick 
mother, and with her clothing purchased for 


MILDRED TUCKER 


71 


the children, Mr. and Mrs. Tucker went down 
to see what could be done further for the 
Thompsons. Mildred expected Edwin over, so 
she did not go, but told her mother the next 
time she went, she wished to accompany her. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Tucker reached the 
Thompsons they found the woman Mrs. 
Thompson had put in charge had made things 
very much more presentable. The room was 
put in order; the clean linens on the bed; 
Mrs. Thompson, after a hot bath, her hair 
combed becomingly and with a fresh gown, 
she looked better already. Mabel, the eldest 
child, had w r ashed and dressed the children, 
and w r hile their clothes were much the worse 
for wear, they were clean. And between 
them, the nurse and Mabel, a very plain 
though wholesome supper had been prepared. 
Altogether it looked as if it might not be long 
before the mother would be better, since she 
had proper attention. She was so happy, and 
told Mrs. Tucker she felt God had heard her 
prayer, and sent her as an angel of mercy to 
their assistance. She couldn’t keep the tears 
of joy from coming to her eyes as Mrs. Tucker 
presented the children with the new clothing, 
and she said, “Now they can go to Sunday 
School.” Mrs. Tucker told her they would be 
glad to call for them the next morning and 
take them in the car. Mrs. Thompson thanked 
her and said if it were not too much trouble, 


72 


MILDRED TUCKER 


she would be glad to have her. Mr. Tucker 
was taking an invoice of what they had, with¬ 
out seeming to do so; and what they would 
need, to have a comfortable home, and thus 
encourage Mr. Thompson, as he was struggling 
to “keep the wolf from the door”; and he felt 
it would help to make Mrs. Thompson well 
and strong. Miss Adams, the nurse, said she 
would be glad to have the children ready for 
Sunday School, and Mrs. Tucker promised to 
call for them about 9:45. Mr. Thompson 
followed them to the door and said: “I want 
to express my thanks to you for your kind¬ 
ness and help. God only knows how hard it 
nas been for me to see my wife going down 
all the time, and not being able to make her 
any more comfortable; for I dared not stop 
work and wasn’t able to hire anyone to take 
care of her. Mabel was doing as well as could 
be expected for a child, and it was really too 
much for her to do. May God’s richest bless¬ 
ings rest upon you for the happiness and cheer 
you have brought into our home.” 

They told him it had been a pleasure, and 
they would be back soon and see how they 
were getting along; so saying, they departed 
for home. 


CHAPTER X. 


Mrs. Tucker had left word that breakfast 
should be served at eight o’clock on Sunday 
morning. They had been in the habit of sleep¬ 
ing late, until last Sunday; it was a settled fact 
now that they would join the Bible School, 
which would necessitate their getting up at 
an early hour. That morning as Janet was 
arranging Mildred’s hair, Mildred said, 
‘Manet, I want to ask a favor of you; will you 
grant it?” “Of course. Miss Mildred, if it is 
possible to do so.” 

Then Mildred told her of Marguerite’s long¬ 
ing to be a missionary, and why she had not 
gone to the Training School. She told her 
she felt she was able to wait on herself, and 
she wanted to loan her to the Woodsons, as 
she knew she loved children and would take 
so much pains with the little ones; and, too, 
she would be such a comfort to Mrs. Wood- 
son. She said, “Will you z o?” 

“Since it is your wish, I will gladly go. It 
has been a real pleasure to serve you, Miss 
Mildred, but if I can help others that need 
me more, especially as it is your wish, I cer¬ 
tainly will do my best.” Mildred told her 
Marguerite would be leaving in a few days; 


74 


MILDRED TUCKER 


she would let her know when she should move 
over. 

It had turned considerably cooler, so 
Mildred told Janet she would wear her new 
fall suit. She looked so pretty in the hand¬ 
some suit of navy blue and her hat was so 
becoming. It was hard to tell when she looked 
her best, in tailored suits or summer dresses; 
but she had such good taste and knew always 
just what suited the occasion. This was the 
first time she had gone any place with Edwin 
since their engagement, and she took pains to 
appear at her best. Marguerite, too, looked 
handsome in her new suit, as they drove off 
with the rest of the Woodson family, every¬ 
body was feeling happy. The Tuckers told 
them they would see them later, as they had 
promised to call for some children to take to 
Sunday School. So saying, they started for 
the Thompson home; found the children all 
ready, and they were certainly a happy little 
bunch as they came out in their new finery. 
They were nice looking children; anyone 
might have been proud to have owned them 
for they were so well behaved. They used 
to go to Sunday School at their old home, but 
since moving to Richwmod had not been able 
to do so on account of their mother’s illness. 

Mildred was asked to take a class. 
Marguerite said, “Oh! Mildred, I want you to 


MILDRED TUCKER 


75 


take my class of girls, won’t you?” “I do not 
know much about teaching, but shall be glad 
to learn; and I will gladly take your class of 
lovely girls after today, if you will give me 
your lesson helps, so I may prepare my les- 


That morning the minister chose for his 
text, “Look upon the fields for they are white 
already to harvest.” He made a strong ap¬ 
peal for the young to present themselves “a 
living sacrifice” and for a goodly offering for 
Missions. It hadn’t been announced that 
Marguerite had offered herself for missionary 
work. That morning as the pastor gave the 
invitation, he said: “Are there those here this 
morning who have heard the call of God to 
go forth in His vineyard and win souls for 
the Master? Are there those here this morn¬ 
ing who will answer this call, and be willing 
to go wherever the Lord shall lead? If so, 
will you come forward while we sing, ‘I Gave 
My Life for Thee; What Hast Thou Done for 
Me?’ ” 

Marguerite didn’t know this opportunity 
would be given for her to publicly consecrate 
her life to the service of the Master; but she 
was glad when this invitation was given, for 
she was extremely happy and wanted to let 
others know. So she arose from her place 
in the choir and came forward. Her pastor’s 


76 


MILDRED TUCKER 


heart leaped for joy as he saw one of his 
brightest flowers laying her life at the feet of 
Him whom he loved and served. She was not 
the only one; for Charles Douglass, who had 
been sitting with bowed head since the invita¬ 
tion was given at the close of the second 
verse, also came forward; while he didn’t 
know just how he was to receive his train¬ 
ing, he could not refuse the call of the Holy 
Spirit, which seemed to say, “Have faith in 
God and He will bring it to pass.” When the 
last verse was being sung every eye was turn¬ 
ed; for one of the girls in Marguerite’s class, 
Dorothy Moore, came forward. She was only 
sixteen and would not graduate in high school 
until the following June; but she had been 
touched by Marguerite’s life, and for some 
time had been thinking of spending her life 
in special work for the Master; so already 
Marguerite began to see the fruit of her' 
labor. She was very fond of Dorothy and the 
tears ran down her cheeks. She was too 
happy for words, as she thought how brave 
Dorothy was; her father and mother had not 
been active in church work, and she feared 
would not approve the step their daughter had 
taken. Then the pledges were taken for the 
mission cause. Mr. Tucker welcomed this 
opportunity, for he had been wanting to give 
to this cause. When he pledged $5,000, and 
stated he would like part of it used for the 


MILDRED TUCKER 


77 


training’ of Charles Douglass, Charles knew 
that God had opened the way; and he would 
not have to wait any longer. Other contribu¬ 
tions amounted to $5,000, so the church felt 
they had a part in the service, by giving three 
of its members and $10,000 in money. 

They were a happy congregation as they 
sang, “How Sweet is the Love of My Saviour”; 
after the benediction they came forward to 
congratulate those who were to have a part 
in winning the world for Jesus. Marguerite 
was asked by her class to recite the little 
poem which she had composed and which she 
had given for them on several occasions. 
Others joined in and insisted; so with her 
heart in every word, she repeated the follow¬ 
ing: 

My Reverie. 

Last night, as I lay on my bed 
Thinking of all the dear Lord said 
To His apostles while here in the world, 

This is the message I heard: 

‘•Lovest thou me?” He seemed to say, 

As He did to Peter on that other day. 

'‘Yea, Lord.” And as I looked in His face, 

I thought surely ’tis true, there’s no other 
place 

Where my soul can find rest 
Except in the Son of Righteousness. 

And as I thought of what He is to me 


73 


MILDRED TUCKER 


I thought of those who do not see 
In Him, their Lord, Redeemer, and King; 

And Oh! how I prayed that He would bring 
Them to a realization 
Of their lost condition 

That at the foot of the Cross they might fall 
Pleading for mercy. Then to all 
We can hear Him say: 

“Be thou clean’" from this very day. 

They that are happiest in the world, w^e find, 
Are those that follow the closest behind 
The Master. Of all the tasks that I would 
choose 

'Tis the one of carrying the glad news 
To those who have never, never heard 
Of the love of Jesus, through His Word. 

Think what it cost the Father above 
As He manifested His wonderful love 
In giving His only Son to die 
That we might live with Him on High. 

Think at what terrible, terrible cost 
Salvation is purchased for the lost. 

Oh! that men would “look and live,” 

Willing, if necessary, their lives to give— 

Not for their country, but for their King, 

Who left His home in Heaven to bring 

The only thing in all the universe 

Which from our heads could lift the curse. 

May w^e all have His blood applied 

That to us may not be denied 

The privilege of seeing Him face to face 


MILDRED TUCKER 


79 


And we'll shout with the ransomed, 

“Saved by Grace." 

To the dear young people let me say: 

“Catch a vision of the world's great need to¬ 
day; 

Then may you pray, “Lord, send me; 

1 want to follow only Thee. 

If in the world there is a place 
Where Thou canst use me, give me grace 
To follow wherever Thou shalt lead 
And may I be true, and loyaL indeed." 

E. S. B. 


CHAPTER XI. 


As this was Edwin and Mildred’s last oppor¬ 
tunity to talk over their plans for the future, 
they told Mr. Woodson they would rather walk 
home; they strolled along planning what they 
would do Christmas, when Edwin would be 
home. Mildred tried to appear very cheerful, 
but in her heart, realizing what it would mean 
to her to have Marguerite and Edwin both 
away, she found it hard to put on a brave 
face. She determined she would spend her 
time trying to bring happiness to others, and 
thus forget her own loneliness, and make the 
time pass more quickly. Edwin felt since he 
had her promise he could make so much bet¬ 
ter progress in his studies. 

When they reached home, Edwin asked 
Mildred to sing for him once more before he 
should go. She went to the piano and sang, 
“We’ll Never Say Goodbye in Heaven,” and 
“God Be With You Till We Meet Again.” As 
the hour was late, Edwin arose to go. It was 
agreed since their engagement would neces¬ 
sarily be a long one, and since they were to 
be separated, they were to feel free to have 
company when it suited them. With a good¬ 
bye kiss, Edwin hurried across the street and 


MILDRED TUCKER 


81 


ran into the house; his father, mother and 
Marguerite awaited him. They decided since 
he would be leaving in a few minutes, they 
would all stay up; and Marguerite would go 
with her father to the depot in the car. 

When the train had pulled out Edwin 
waved to his father and Marguerite as long 
as he could see them. They turned to enter 
the car and noticing a man, who was a cripple, 
watching them, Mr. Woodson said, “Neigh¬ 
bor, get in my car and I will take you where 
you want to go. The man seemed very 
much embarrassed, but managed to say 
“thank you,” and got in the car. Mr. 
Woodson asked him where he wanted to 
go, and he said, “I have no home, and really 
do not know where I am going.” Mr. Wood- 
son suggested that he go to the Union Mission, 
where he would have a good bed and be taken 
care of. A^-the man made no objection, Mr. 
Woodson drove there and going in with the 
man, asked the superintendent to take care of 
him and do what he could for his comfort. 
Leaving the price of a few nights’ lodging and 
meals with him and suggesting that perhaps 
he could find the man some kind of work, Mr. 
Woodson started for home. 

The superintendent asked the man his 
name and where he was from. He replied: 
“My name is Fred Stewart, but I haven’t any 


82 


MILDRED TUCKER 


Lome; at least that I know of. When I left 
home ten years ago my father and mother 
lived in Raleigh, N. C., but I haven’t heard 
from them since and do not know that they 
are still living.” 

Mr. Marsh, the superintendent, was very 
kind to him. He took him to the bathroom 
where, after a hot bath, he gave him clean 
clothes and led him to a room with a nice, 
comfortable bed—and, patting him on the 
shoulder, said: “I am glad Mr. Woodson 
brought you to us; and I hope we may find 
your people for you and help you to find work. 
After you have had a good night’s sleep, we 
will talk further about what plan to pursue,” 
and saying “goodnight,” he left him. 

As he lay there thinking of the life he had 
lived for the last ten years, and what his in¬ 
tentions were when Mr. Woodson noticed him 
watching them, he wondered whether there 
really was anyone in the world who cared 
v r hether he did right or wrong. He had been 
guilty of nearly every crime you could men¬ 
tion; and tonight had intended robbing the 
Woodson’s when they had reached a less pub¬ 
lic place; 'when to his surprise they had in¬ 
vited him to get in their car that they might 
take him where he washed to go. It was the 
first time for years anyone had spoken a kind 
wmrd to him. He felt after their kindness- he 


MILDRED TUCKER 


83 


couldn’t do them any harm, so allowed them 
to take him to the Mission, for the reason he 
had no place to go. He began to go over his 
life. He had always been a wayward boy, 
and would not listen to his parents as they had 
tried to keep him from drinking. Ten years 
ago, when he had gone home drunk, and his 
father had remonstrated with him, he had 
picked up a chair and struck at him, just 
missing him by the fraction of an inch. Then 
he turned and left the house and swore he 
would never return. From that time until 
now, he had not spent one day in honest toil; 
but stealing his way on freight trains, beg¬ 
ging from door to door, spending his nights 
robbing houses and then gambling with what¬ 
ever he secured, drinking and carousing. He 
wondered why this man should have noticed 
him and spoken kindly to him. He knew he was 
not worthy the notice of a gentleman; and he 
kept thinking and wondering why he should 
have gone out of his way for one such as he. 
He began to think of his father and mother; 
and how they had earnestly tried to make a 
good boy of him; to save his life, he couldn’t 
sleep. He wondered if his parents were still 
living, and if they would be glad to see him 
if he should return. He remembered how they 
had loved him when a little boy; and how he 
used to go to Sunday School and hear the 
Bible stories. He thought of the Prodigal Son, 


84 


MILDRED TUCKER 


and the words kept ringing in his ears, “I will 
arise and go to my father, and will say unto 
him I am not worthy to be called thy son; make 
me as one of thy hired servants. ,, He thought 
of all the crimes he had committed since he 
left home; how he had never been a comfort 
to those that loved him, but had always wor¬ 
ried them; and he thought, “I never could have 
the courage to go home.” He got up and 
walked the floor, as he could not sleep. His 
room was directly over Mr. Marsh’s room, as 
he always put suspicious looking characters 
there, so if they did not seem to sleep he 
might go to them and find out the trouble. 
Mr. Marsh got up and slipped upstairs, and 
knocking softly on his door, asked if he might 
come in. Fred Stewart opened the door, and 
when Mr. Marsh said, “My friend, what is the 
matter; are you sick?” he replied, “Worse 
than sick; I can’t forget what a mean man I 
have been and how dreadfully I treated my 
old father and mother.’’ Then Mr. Marsh 
asked him if he was sorry. He said: “I would 
give my life if I could only make amends for 
what I have done.” Mr. Marsh showed him 
how Jesus had paid his debt, and how, if 
he would surrender his will to Him, He 
would blot out all his transgressions and give 
him a new start. They knelt together, and 
after Fred Stewart had prayed for himself, 
Mr. Marsh poured out his soul in earnest 


MILDRED TUCKER 


85 


prayer. When he came to the place where 
he said, “I will do anything the Lord wants 
me to do, if He will only forgive me,” the Lord 
heard his prayer and gave him the assurance 
that he was accepted as His child. He turned 
to Mr. Marsh and said, “From this time on, 
I will live a clean life; and will try to lift those 
with whom I have been associated.” 

After Mr. Marsh had gone back to his room, 
Fred began to plan what he would do. The 
more he thought of his father and mother, the 
more he wanted to see them; but he was de¬ 
termined he v/ould not go home without first 
finding work and proving he was a respect¬ 
able man; so he decided in the morning he 
would write to his parents telling them how 
he had lived since leaving home, and ask their 
forgiveness; and how God had forgiven his 
sins; and he was going to make a man of him¬ 
self ; from now on they would not be ashamed 
to own him as their son. 

He could hardly wait until morning came. 
He thought he had better get to sleep so as 
to present a better appearance before seek¬ 
ing employment; so saying, he closed his 
eyes and was soon dreaming of the old home 
and his boyhood days. 


CHAPTER XII. 


The next morning dawned bright and 
clear. While Mr. Woodson was at the break¬ 
fast table, the telephone rang and Mr. Marsh 
told him of how the man he had brought to 
the Mission was converted and was going to 
start out that morning to find employment. 
He told him that he had confessed that he 
was a miserable wretch; he was so ashamed 
of the way he had treated his father and 
mother, and would go to them as soon as he 
had proved himself a man; and he was very 
anxious to find something to do. 

Mr. Woodson told him to send him around 
to his office and he thought he might be able 
to help him. 

When Fred Stewart appeared before Mr. 
Woodson that morning, he could hardly recog¬ 
nize him as being the man he had taken to 
the Mission the night before. He had been 
very particular in dressing himself, and hav¬ 
ing first shaved, he presented a very respect¬ 
able appearance. 

Mr. Woodson said to him, “I thought you 
were a cripple, but you seem to walk all right 
now.” 


MILDRED TUCKER 


87 


He told him that he had feigned that guise 
that he might not be suspected of the crimes 
which he committed. He also told him how 
he had planned to hold him up when he 
reached a secluded spot; how his kindness to 
him had changed his whole life, for which 
he expressed his heartfelt gratitude. 

Then he repeated what he had told Mr. 
Marsh of his early life; how the Lord had 
forgiven him, and how he had written to his 
father and mother asking their forgiveness. 
It w r as his intention, after spending some 
weeks in honest work, to go home to see them 
if they were still living. 

“What work did you do when you were a 
young man?” 

He replied that he was clerking in a store 
at the time he left home. Mr. Woodson said, 
“I am more than glad you have made a com¬ 
plete surrender to the Lord, and I am willing 
to give you a start. I have a vacancy in the 
department you speak of, and I will see if you 
can fill it; you may begin at once, working 
under the manager, Mr. Price.” 

Fred thanked him and said he would do his 
best to please him; that he could never repay 
him for his kindness. 

When Marguerite arose that morning, she 
hurried around getting all her clothes in hex 


88 


MILDRED TUCKER 


trunk and making the necessary changes in 
her wardrobe—taking with her the things 
which would make her room in the school 
seem more like home. She was a little sad 
as she thought of the separation from those 
who were so dear to her; and knowing what 
it would mean to them to have her away. 
But she felt so pleased that the way had 
opened for her to go, she went singing from 
room to room. 

Mrs. Woodson was much better than she 
had been some weeks before, and she felt 
with Janet there to look after the children, 
they would get along nicely. Janet had moved 
over that morning, and Marguerite was help¬ 
ing her to get settled in the room adjoining 
the children’s. She had made everything as 
cozy and pleasant as possible, and they had 
just put on the finishing touches, when the 
door bell rang and Marguerite hurried down 
to the door. She was surprised to find Mr. 
Douglass there. He told her he had just come 
over to say goodbye; he was leaving on the 
noon train for his home; after spending a 
few days with his mother, he would enter 
the Louisville Seminary. 

She said, “I am so glad you are to be there 
this winter, for I am leaving in a few days to 
enter that Training School.” They had be¬ 
come very good friends and each felt they 


MILDRED TUCKER 


89 


would be helped by having the companion¬ 
ship and advice of the other; so they had that 
to look forward to. 

Marguerite called her mother, w T ho would 
want to see Mr. Douglass before he left, as 
he had been in their home a great deal and 
they were all very fond of him. Mrs. Wood- 
son wished him the greatest success and told 
him she would always feel an interest in his 
work; she hoped to hear from him from time 
to time as to where he would be sent, when 
he would sail, etc. As he only had a little 
time, he said goodbye to Mrs. Woodson; as 
he pressed Marguerite’s hand, he asked her 
what time she expected to arrive in Louisville. 
She replied the following Thursday at 3 p. m. 
He told her he would meet her at the train, 
for which she thanked him and said she had 
been dreading going to a strange city with 
no one she knew to meet her. After he had 
gone, Marguerite thought, how nice it will 
be to have him there this winter. Her heart 
gave a bound, as she thought she would not 
be entirely among strangers; and the color 
came to her cheeks as she confessed to her¬ 
self that she would rather have Charles Doug¬ 
lass there than any one she knew. 

The Missionary Society of the church was 
having a farewell party for Marguerite this 
evening, and every woman of the church had 


90 


MILDRED TUCKER 


been sent an invitation. They had arranged 
an interesting program to follow the banquet; 
as each responded to their toasts, it was soon 
felt that someone had been praying in this 
church, for they wanted to double their amount 
to missions. Marguerite and Dorothy Moore 
told of the happiness they had experienced 
since they had heard the call of Jesus to go 
forth in His vineyard, and asked the church 
to remember them daily in prayer. Many 
other girls showed by their attitude they were 
thinking seriously of joining the “Life Service 
League.” Mildred thought she had never at¬ 
tended a party she enjoyed so much; and 
went home with a prayer on her lips that she 
might be used to bring light to those that sat 
in darkness. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


A month had passed since Edwin went 
away, and Marguerite had gone a few days 
later. Mildred had been very lonely, but she 
made it a point each day to visit someone 
she might help by her presence, carrying a 
little sunshine here and there, and she was 
surprised in how many ways she could help 
people. There were girls in the shops who 
.looked so tired at the close of the day; and 
she made it convenient to carry some pretty 
flowers to them. Sometimes it would be an 
interesting book to one whom she felt needed 
something to brighten their life. Then she 
would take some old lady, who never got 
away from home, out in her car for a ride 
in the country; and having her Sunday 
School class for an evening; the little social 
affairs of the week, and a thousand other 
things, time went very rapidly. 

She had just come in from a short call on 
the Thompsons, who lived at the outskirts of 
the city. Mr. Tucker had found a nice, clean 
cottage where Mrs. Thompson would have 
fresh air and they could keep a cow, and have 
fruit; and he had advised Mr. Thompson to 


92 MILDRED TUCKER 

move his family, and he had gladly done so. 

Mr. Tucker had also sent them several 
pieces of new furniture so their little home 
was cozy and homelike. Mrs. Thompson was 
about well and went singing about her home 
as she prepared their meals and dressed the 
children for school. It was a pleasure to see 
what a little kindness and help had meant to 
them. Mr. Thompson looked years younger; 
and instead of life being a burden, it was a 
pleasure as he looked forward to the evenings 
spent with his family. 

When Mildred reached home that evening, 
she found a letter from one of her college 
friends asking her to come and visit her. She 
lived in Florida; Mildred had enjoyed so much 
a visit there a year ago. She thought it would 
be lovely to go—but as she thought of the gay 
time she had while there, she wondered if 
Evelyn would be disappointed that she did not 
care for some of the things she had done when 
there before. 

She went to find her mother and talk to 
her about the invitation before answering. 
She began to wish her parents would go to 
Florida for the winter; and after spending a 
little time with Evelyn, she could join them. 
Edwin had written her that they were to have 
such a short vacation, he would not be home 



MILDRED TUCKER 


93 


for Christmas. She was disappointed; but she 
didn’t know Edwin felt he must save the 
money it would take to bring him home, to 
buy a Christmas present for her. As she 
began to think of being away, she thought of 
her class in the Sunday School; and that she 
would be needed in carrying out the mission¬ 
ary program for Christmas. She decided she 
would rather not go until after the first of 
January; then she felt sure it would suit her 
father better to be away for three or four 
months. When talking with her mother, they 
were agreed that would be the time to go, so 
she wrote her friend telling her they w T ould 
be in Florida in January and she would see 
her at that time; thanking her for her in¬ 
vitation and speaking of the lovely time she 
had when there; but she did not feel she could 
be spared from her church at this time. Then 
she told her of her new found happiness, and 
invited her to spend Christmas with them and 
share with her the pleasure of seeing some 
children who had never had a real Christmas, 
as they beheld their tree and the presents 
Santa brought them. 

Mildred and her mother began to plan for 
Christmas and how many they would remem¬ 
ber this year. Always before they had a long 
list of friends; to that was added this year 
many who would enjoy for the first time a 


94 


MILDRED TUCKER 


real Christmas. They were so happy as they 
thought of the happy little faces there would 
be on this Christmas morning. 

Mildred and Mrs. Tucker made a list of the 
families they would remember, and that after¬ 
noon went to the shops, for it would take some 
time to select all the things they wanted to 
buy. 

Then, too, Mildred meant her Sunday 
School class to share the pleasure of dressing 
the dolls and making whatever was to be 
made for the little ones. 

Mildred went to the bank to see her father; 
as she was coming out she noticed a very fine 
looking man making a deposit. As she passed 
him, their eyes met, and she wondered who 
he could be; she was sure she had never seen 
him before. Several times that day her mind 
drifted back to him. 

After Mildred had left the bank, this gen¬ 
tleman, Horace Madison, turned to his friend 
who was standing near him, and inquired if 
he knew the young lady who had just left the 
bank. He replied she was Miss Tucker, the 
daughter of the president of the bank, but he 
had never had the pleasure of meeting her. 

The Madisons were an old Virginia family 
and were known throughout the state as one 


MILDRED TUCKER 


95 


of the most aristocratic and influential families 
of the South. They did not live in the city; 
their palatial home on Edgewood Drive, of the 
old Colonial style, was admired by all who 
passed and was known by the name of “Ivory 
Pillars.” Horace Madison was the only son, 
and was the youngest Judge on the Supreme 
bench. His two sisters were married and liv¬ 
ing in New York; the only ones at home were 
his father and mother, and he spent three or 
four months of the year with them. 

While Judge Madison had met all the elite 
of Washington and other cities, and had been 
much sought after by many of the fair sex, 
he had never been in love. He enjoyed the 
company of ladies and spent many leisure 
hours with them—but he had never seen the 
girl he wanted to make his wife. He thought 
he was immune from Cupid’s dart; but today 
as he rode home in his car, he couldn’t for a 
moment forget the face of Mildred Tucker. 
He wondered how he might meet her; when 
he remembered he had an invitation to a dance 
at one of the homes in Richwood, he deter¬ 
mined he would go, as he felt sure she would 
be there. He was a fine looking man; being 
six feet tall, weighing 180 lbs., with hand¬ 
some brown eyes and wavy brown hair. He 
was a real Southern gentleman and never 
overlooked any courtesy or attention, which 
means so much to ladies. 


96 


MILDRED TUCKER 


When he arrived at Helen Gould’s party and 
was presented to the guests, his heart sank 
as he failed to see the one whom he sought. 
He however determined during the evening to 
make inquiry of Miss Gould and see if she 
knew Miss Tucker. He was to have the first 
dance with Miss Gould; as soon as the oppor¬ 
tunity presented itself, he said, “By the way, 
Miss Gould, are you acquainted with Miss 
Mildred Tucker?” Helen replied, “Yes, in¬ 
deed; Mildred and I used to he inseparable 
until she joined the church; I scarcely ever 
see her any more. I never saw anyone who 
seemed so changed after uniting with a church 
as she is. She is such a beautiful dancer and 
used to love to dance, but she never attends 
any more. I think it’s a shame to give up all 
enjoyment just because you are a member of 
a church. Don’t you?” 

“That depends on what constitutes pleasure. 
Perhaps she doesn’t see things as she once did 
—and gets more enjoyment from other things. 
She surely looks like a happy little some¬ 
body.” 

“Oh! no doubt she is; she told me she 
wouldn’t exchange the happiness she now ex¬ 
periences for all the world. But none of that 
for me; some day, perhaps, I will change my 
mind; but I intend to have a good time first.” 

“How does she spend her time?” 



MILDRED TUCKER 


97 


‘‘Well, she never misses Sunday School or 
church, and on Wednesday evenings you will 
always find her in prayer meeting. Through 
the week you will often see her out in her car 
with some old lady, who hasn’t been out be¬ 
fore for years. Then, too, she is always 
doing something for the girls in the shops; 
and the poor around the city. I don’t sup¬ 
pose another girl in Rich wood is as much 
loved as Mildred; by all classes, rich and poor, 
men, women, and children. She had expected 
to go abroad this fall, but gave it up after 
her conversion; she felt she was needed here, 
and then she didn’t want to leave her father 
for so long. Her mother was to accompany 
her and they expected to be gone one or two 
years. She intended finishing her music while 
away, but Mildred plays and sings beautifully 
as it is. Her voice is a wonder.” 

“Does she attend the church you do?” 

“Yes; you should have seen her the night 
she was baptized. Her face shone like the 
face of an angel; it was needless for her to 
say she was happy; you could tell that by 
looking at her.” 

At this time they were interrupted by some¬ 
one claiming Miss Gould for the next dance. 
At the earliest possible moment, without be¬ 
ing rude, Judge Madison sought Miss Gould 
and expressed his pleasure at being able to 


98 


MILDRED TUCKER 


be present at her party; and asked her if he 
might accompany her to church on Sunday 
evening. 

Of course Helen was delighted, and he 
arranged to call for her at 7:45. She thought 
she would be envied by all the girls; but she 
didn’t know it was not her company he was 
seeking, but an introduction to Miss Tucker. 

As Judge Madison drove home that even¬ 
ing, he wondered if he could wait until Sun¬ 
day evening. This was Friday, so it would 
be only two days, but it seemed a long time 
to him. He couldn’t put Mildred out of his 
thoughts for one minute. He didn’t go to 
sleep for several hours, and when he did it 
was to dream of going here and there hoping 
to see her: but was always disappointed. He 
wondered if, after all these years, he had met 
the girl he loved and would not be able to win 
her. Saturday was the longest day of his life; 
no matter what he attempted to do, he could 
not interest himself in anything. 

At last Sunday evening came and Judge 
Madison called for Miss Gould, and when they 
were on their way to church, he felt more 
composed than he had since the day he first 
beheld Mildred Tucker. When the usher 
seated them, it happened he seated them di¬ 
rectly behind the Tuckers. For this Horace 


MILDRED TUCKER 


99 


was extremely thankful. Mildred, however, 
was in the choir and didn’t notice them come 
in. The text tonight was, “Come unto me 
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I 
will give you rest.” Everyone that knew the 
minister loved him; and the house was filled 
at every service. He made a very strong ap¬ 
peal, and everyone felt their strength re¬ 
newed, as they were pointed to the source of 
all help—our Saviour. 

At the close of the sermon, Mildred sang 
“Rock of Ages.” She never looked lovelier 
or sang sweeter. Horace Madison thought 
he never heard anything so wonderful. Every 
word was impressed on his memory. 

When the benediction was pronounced, Mr. 
Tucker turned to speak to those near him. 
When he saw Judge Madison he was very 
much pleased, and presented him to Mrs. 
Tucker. Mr. Tucker had known the Madi¬ 
sons a long time, but he didn’t remember of 
seeing any of them at church since he had 
been attending. Helen Gould came now and 
then, but not regularly. As they were talk¬ 
ing Mildred joined them, and Helen presented 
Judge Madison. She shook hands with him 
and remarked she was glad to see him there, 
and hoped he would come often. 

“I certainly will; I never realized how 


1 3 



100 


MILDRED TUCKER 


much I have been missing until tonight.” 

Then she asked Helen if she would join 
their Sunday School class; told her of the 
mission pageant they were going to have, and 
said they would be glad to have her help in 
it. She also mentioned that they were going 
to dress some dolls for some children at Christ¬ 
mas, and asked her if she would like to join 
them at her house the following evening to 
start work. Mildred had done everything in 
her power to interest Helen in church work, 
and hoped by so doing she would become a 
Christian. 

Helen said she had an engagement for the 
following evening and could not come, as 
much as she would like to. 

They had reached the door and Judge 
Madison said, “Miss Tucker, if you are not 
engaged for Tuesday evening, may I call and 
inspect your work?” She replied, “On one 
condition; that you dress one of the dolls.” 
This he promised to do, and they parted with 
the understanding that he would be there 
Tuesday evening and do his part in dressing 
dolls. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


The Woodsons had at last become somewhat 
accustomed to having Marguerite away from 
home, although at first they felt they could 
not keep house without her. 

Janet had proved herself a jewel; Mrs. 
Woodson felt what a comfort it was to have 
someone take such interest in the children. 
She was not only a help to them in their les¬ 
sons, but spent much time amusing them and 
training them. They loved her dearly, and 
ran to her as they did to Marguerite with all 
their troubles and all their joys. 

Marguerite had written often; had spoken 
of the lovely spirit of the school; and said 
the training was just what she needed to go 
out in the missionary service. They had the 
practical experience of working among the 
foreigners; she told of a number of instances 
where she had been able to bring comfort to 
destitute homes. She spoke of Mr. Douglass, 
and said they spent Saturday afternoons in 
work where they both could have a part. 
Also of the Sunday School in the slums, where 
he was superintendent and she taught a class. 
“It seems so much more like home to see some¬ 
one you know, and we enjoy very much tak- 


102 


MILDRED TUCKER 


ing our difficulties to each other for counsel. 

“I am more and more in love with my work; 
and am looking forward to the time when I 
shall be ready to sail for Russia, where the 
poor Jewish people are enduring such hard¬ 
ships. The Russians I have met who are 
Christians are of the very best, and will en¬ 
dure anything for the cause of Christ; so I 
have felt that this is the place I hope to serve 
Him. 

“I am so glad to hear all the nice things 
Mildred is doing. No one will ever know ail 
the good she does, for she never speaks of it 
unless she wishes to interest someone else in 
the work, as in the case of the dolls. I am 
glad she is training our girls to work for 
others. I am looking forward to being home 
Christmas, and hope to see the missionary 
pageant they are preparing. It won’t be long 
now until I see you. Am so sorry Edwin is 
not going to be home. Is it really because the 
time is so short, or has he other reasons?” 

Mr. Woodson came in at this time, and Mrs. 
Woodson handed him Marguerite’s letter. He 
was always so pleased to receive Marguerite’s 
letters; they came twice a week. Edwin, too, 
had been good about writing, and their letters 
were a source of great comfort. 


MILDRED TUCKER 


103 


Today Edwin had told them of an invitation 
from a college friend to spend Christmas with 
him in Boston; he had accepted the invitation, 
as he couldn’t be at home. Said he was get¬ 
ting along fine in his studies, and felt sure now 
he would finish college this year. 

As they sat at the dinner table that even¬ 
ing, the subject of conversation was Edwin’s 
Christmas box. They w r ould have to get it 
ready at once, for next week was Christmas 
and it might be delayed in transit when the 
mails w^ere so heavj^. 

They were all so happy talking of it, and 
of Marguerite’s coming; Richard, Robert and 
Ruth were almost beside themselves; Janet 
was to take them down street after they had 
finished their dinner, to make their Christmas 
purchases. They were each given two *dol- 
lars, and they thought they could buy out the 
store with that much money. 

After they had gone, Mrs. Woodson made 
her fingers fly in dressing a beautiful doll for 
Ruth. She looked up and said, “How is Fred 
Stewart getting along?” Mr. Woodson re¬ 
plied that he was doing fine. “I am certainly 
glad I trusted that man and gave him a place, 
for he is making good. I think he expects to 
go home to spend Christmas with his parents. 
He has been saving every cent and has bought 


104 


MILDRED TUCKER 


his mother a good black silk dress and his 
father a suit of clothes, to take to them. I 
wish I could be behind the door when he meets 
them.” 

“It will be a day of rejoicing when the 
prodigal son returns. I am so glad for that 
mother that her son is living right.” 

“I told him he could take a week off.” 

“It pays to be kind to strangers; I often 
wonder what might have become of you and 
Marguerite if you hadn’t invited him to ride 
with you; and to think, by your kindness he 
was led to the Saviour?” 

They heard the children coming, so Mrs. 
Woodson hurried to hide the doll and bring 
the box they were going to pack for Edwin. 
They had promised the children they would 
wait until they returned, so they could help. 

There was the fruit cake, the big box of 
home-made candy; ties, handkerchiefs, hose, 
a folding umbrella, slippers, a Masonic ring, 
and, best of all, mother's picture in a hand¬ 
some frame. Mrs. Woodson hadn’t had any 
pictures made for years, and they had pre¬ 
vailed upon her to have some taken, and sur¬ 
prise Edwin and Marguerite. They all knew 
that was the present that would please Edwin 
most. Then the children put in their gifts, 


MILDRED TUCKER 


105 


of which they were so proud. Robert had 
bought a knife; Richard thought checkers 
were better, and Ruth was sure he would like 
her book best of all. It is needless to say, 
when Edwin received the box, being his first 
Christmas away from home, and saw the gifts 
from the children, carrying with them so much 
love, his heart was touched and he prized them 
as if they had been worth their weight in 
gold, and put them away to keep forever. 

After they had finished the box and Janet 
had taken the children to bed, a messenger 
boy came with a telegram from Marguerite, 
saying they would reach home the next day at 
12. They could hardly wait until morning, they 
longed so to see her. It was the first time in 
her life she had been away from home for so 
long. Mrs. Woodson felt now she needn't 
worry about not having things ready for the 
children's Christmas, for when Marguerite 
came she would soon get things done. 


CHAPTER XV. 

The night before Christmas had come at 
at last. Mr. Tucker ordered five Christmas 
trees sent out to certain families, all boxed 
ready to be set up; and Mildred had been 
busy all day putting on the ornaments and 
getting them ready for Santa Claus to put on 
the presents. She never spent a busier or 
happier day as she went from place to place 
and saw the delight of the children; the first 
time, in some of the homes, they were to have 
a Christmas tree. She was to go that even¬ 
ing with the presents, and had them all tied 
up in separate packages, ready to deliver at 
each door. 

She not only had the gifts for the children, 
but some nice, warm clothing for the mothers; 
sweaters, shawls, hose, coats, dresses and 
shoes. 

The girls of her class had been at her 
home nearly every evening dressing dolls; and, 
true to his word, Judge Madison had dressed 
one, which was pretty well done. He had been 
very slow, and didn’t finish it in one evening, 
so of course he went back again. In fact, he 
had made it convenient to be there several 
times since Sunday, and Mildred had enter- 


MILDRED TUCKER 


107 


lamed him with the girls as they prepared 
things for the trees. She admired him very 
much, and found him excellent company; but 
she never spent an evening in his company 
alone. She began to look forward to his com¬ 
ing; then she would force herself to put him 
out of her mind. She wondered sometimes if 
it wasn’t a mistake for a girl, after she was 
engaged, to have other callers. Determining 
to be true to Edwin, she would think of him 
as little as possible. 

Judge Madison had found Mildred all he 
had hoped, and more. He was wild about 
her—and longed for the time to come when 
he might tell her of his love. He was to call 
Christmas afternoon, and he kept asking him¬ 
self the question if it were too soon to speak 
to her concerning the thing uppermost in his 
mind. 

Tonight, as Mildred loaded the car with the 
packages, her mother said, “Had I better go 
with you, Mildred?” and she replied, “No, 
mother; you might get all the packages ready 
and finish our own tree. John is so trust¬ 
worthy ; I think it is perfectly safe for me to go 
with him. I won’t be gone very long, and when 
I come back we will have a good time putting 
our things on the tree.” 

Since Mildred was a little girl she had always 



108 


MILDRED TUCKER 


had a tree, and it wouldn’t seem like Christmas 
without it; so there in the living room was a 
beautiful tree with all the gifts that had come 
by mail to be opened Christmas morning. 

She waved her hand and started, saying 
she didn’t think she would be gone more than 
an hour, or two at the longest. 

She told John where to drive, and took the 
nearest homes first. She had been to all but 
two, and thought they were getting along 
line. The next home was in a deserted part 
of the town and some distance from the street. 
Mildred told John that he had better stay in 
the car, as the things were not heavy and she 
would only be gone a few moments. 

She hurried in, and as soon as the door 
closed behind her, two men appeared. John 
had not seen or heard anyone, and turned to 
see where they came from. Just then he was 
dealt a blow on the head which rendered him 
unconscious. He was dragged from the car 
and these men carried him some little distance 
further, where there was a stream that flowed 
into the river, just below. They threw him 
in there and thought that would be the last 
of him. Another man had stepped into the 
car and was waiting, as John had been do¬ 
ing, for Mildred to return. 

When she came, she said: “John, it took a 


MILDRED TUCKER 


109 


]ittle longer there; the children were asleep, 
and the mother wanted me to help put the 
presents on the tree. She was so perfectly 
happy, I could hardly get away from her. Just 
one more place now, and we are ready to go 
home/' 

They drove to the Thompson’s, and Mildred 
unloaded the rest of the presents. She thought 
it strange that John didn’t offer to carry them 
in, as he always did, but supposed it was be¬ 
cause she had told him to sit in the car at the 
other house. 

As they were not heavy, she ran in to the 
door and left them, not waiting to hear the 
words of appreciation from Mrs. Thompson, 
for she knew how hard it was to get away, 
when they caught sight of the gifts. She was 
anxious to get back home and get her things 
out for her father and mother. She had 
mailed Edwin’s box several days ago; had sent 
her box over to the Woodsons, and to all her 
girl friends. The Christmas greetings had all 
been mailed, so she felt everything was in 
readiness for the happiest Christmas she had 
ever spent. 

When she reached the car she said, “Now 
for home, John.” He turned as if to go home, 
but at the very first side street, which was 
very dark, he turned and was driving very 


110 


MILDRED TUCKER 


fast. She began to think then something was 
wrong, and said: “John, this is not the way.'’ 
He made no reply, but drove faster and faster. 
She was wondering what she should do, when 
the driver seemed to slow up a little and she 
would jump out; but instead, two men got in 
and seated themselves on either side of her. 
They told her if she kept quiet they would not 
harm her, but if she didn’t they would kill her. 
Mildred breathed a prayer to “Him who will 
never leave us or forsake us,” and she felt 
she could place her life in His hands. Of 
course she was frightened, but when she 
prayed, it seemed that someone stood by her 
side and said: “Fear thou not, for 1 am with 
thee; Oh! be not dismayed, for I am thy God. 
1 will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee; 
yea, I will uphold thee by the right hand of 
my righteousness.” After that she said to her¬ 
self, I will not fear. 

She began to wonder what had become of 
John, for she saw by this time that the driver 
was a stranger, and it was a plot to secrete 
her away. She wondered how soon her people 
would become alarmed and search for her; 
and prayed that they would very soon. She 
knew her father well enough to know that 
he would have all detectives he could get on 
the job, and nothing would be left undone to 
find her. She thought of the lovely Christmas 
they had expected to have, and she couldn’t 


MILDRED TUCKER 


111 


keep the tears from falling in her lap. They 
hadn’t driven very long when they came to a 
stream and drove down into it. They fol¬ 
lowed the stream some little distance to a 
secluded spot; they took hold of her and began 
to get her out. She didn’t know where they 
were taking her, and she was so frightened 
she could hardly walk; but up on the side hill 
they came to a cave and one of the men went 
inside and lighted a candle, and she saw it was 
occupied by a lot of outlaws. They said to 
her, “Make yourself as comfortable as you 
can. We will not harm you if you do not try 
to get away; and even if you do, it will be no 
use, for we have guards stationed all around 
here.’’ 

They gave her a cot to rest on. She ex¬ 
amined it and found the sheets were clean. 
She didn’t expect to sleep but she thought she 
would pretend to them she did, that she might 
think what was best to do. They stepped out¬ 
side, and she knelt and prayed aloud, asking 
God to forgive these men, “For they know 
not what they do’; she prayed for their 
mothers and sisters who might this night be 
in trouble too. 

They were listening to see what she would 
do; and one of the men, when he heard that 
prayer, felt his heart of stone melt, and ne 
said: “Boys, listen to that little girl in there 


112 


MILDRED TUCKER 


praying for us! Let’s take her home and give 
up this awful way of living?” The others 
swore and called him a coward, and said they 
would not lose this chance they had so long- 
sought of making a big haul. They said: 
“When old man Tucker puts up his million, we 
will restore her: otherwise we will not!” 


CHAPTER XVI. 

Mrs. Tucker went to the door to see if she 
could see anything of the car. She had been 
to the door time and again in the last half- 
hour. At last she said to Mr. Tucker, “I am 
almost beside myself because Mildred doesn’t 
come. She thought she would be back in an 
hour; not later than two at the most—and it 
is now nearly three hours.” 

Mr. Tucker replied, “If she were with any¬ 
one but John, I would be worried; but John is 
so trustworthy, I am sure it has taken longer 
than she thought. However, if she isn’t here 
in fifteen minutes, I will go to hunt for her.” 

In about ten minutes Mr. Tucker rang the 
bell. When the servant appeared he said: 
“Ned, bring the electric around to the door.” 

He said to Mrs. Tucker, “It isn’t necessary 
to say anything to the servants until I go to 
the homes where Mildred expected to go; then 
if I do not find her, I will ’phone the police 
and put detectives on the trail. Surely she 
has been detained longer than she expected 
at some of the homes.” So saying, he hurried 
away. 

He went to each home and inquired if his 
daughter had been there and how long since 



114 


MILDRED TUCKER 


she had left; when he found it had been so 
long, he began to fear that something had 
happened; and he drove like mad to reach the 
last house. Mr. Thompson told him she had 
been gone an hour and a half. Then Mr. 
Tucker immediately called police headquar¬ 
ters. He told them to send at once the best 
detectives they had to 846 Staunton Road, and 
as many policemen as they could. He also 
asked that the bloodhounds be sent to this 
place, and not to lose a minute, as he felt 
sure Mildred Tucker had met with foul play. 

In less than twenty minutes there were six 
policemen and three detectives there. Mr. 
Tucker walked the floor until they arrived. 
He told them Mildred had been out delivering 
Christmas parcels to the five homes; and that 
this was one of the last ones visited; it had 
been an hour and a half—nearly two now— 
since she had left there. He gave them the 
number of the car, which was a Packard, and 
described the driver as a w T hite man about 40 
years of age, five feet eight inches tall, weight 
150 lbs., with blue eyes and hair streaked with 
grey. He told them he would have trusted 
that man anywhere; and he felt sure some 
fatality had happened him, for he would have 
saved Mildred at the cost of his own life. 

After the men had started, Mr. Tucker 
’phoned Mrs. Tucker that he had a lot of peo- 


MILDRED TUCKER 


115 


pie searching; that she could start the ser¬ 
vants out in every place where John might go. 
That he had bloodhounds on the trail, and he 
felt they would soon find them. 

When the hounds started, they followed the 
trail until they came to the stream, but there 
they lost it. Several times they started them 
again, and each time they went the same 
way. They had the stream dragged, and they 
crossed over and went for miles on the other 
side; they feared they could not take up the 
trail again, and thought they might have 
changed autos there. They went to each de¬ 
pot and inquired if anyone had noticed a lady 
in company with some men, or one man, go¬ 
ing away on the train. The agent told them 
there had been four men and one woman who 
wore a veil, boarded the train there and bought 
tickets to Chicago. The authorities at Chicago 
were immediately notified to be on the look¬ 
out for this party. 

Mr. Tucker next called the daily papers and 
asked them to get out an early edition telling 
of the disappearance of Mildred Tucker; of¬ 
fering $5,000 reward for any information that 
would lead to finding her. All night long they 
searched. Mr. Thompson had started out as 
soon as Mr. Tucker had come, and was as 
much concerned as if it had been his own 
child. All the men at the other homes visited 


116 


MILDRED TUCKER 


by her had joined the searching party, and, 
in fact, everyone that heard of it started out, 
hoping to be able to do something; for there 
wasn’t anyone in the city who w r as loved more 
than Mildred Tucker. 

Poor Mrs. Tucker almost collapsed, as the 
hours went by and no word. She walked the 
door and wrung her hands and prayed and 
grieved that she hadn’t gone with her; she felt 
she could not stand another moment of sus¬ 
pense. Then she prayed, ‘‘Lord, give me faith 
to believe you will take care of my child.” 

Mr. Tucker had sent a trained nurse to be 
with Mrs. Tucker. As the newsboys called 
the papers, “All about the disappearance of 
Mildred Tucker,” those who had not heard 
bought a copy and the whole city was in sor¬ 
row. 

Judge Madison had left several Christ¬ 
mas packages in his office which he 
wanted to send out early, so he arose 
earlier than usual and drove into the 
city. As he reached the outskirts, he 
heard the cry of a newsboy and his heart al¬ 
most stopped beating. He grabbed a paper 
and hastily scanned the headlines, and then 
the particulars concerning her disappearance. 
He drove immediately to Mr. Tucker’s. 
Found Mr. Tucker had never been home but 


MILDRED TUCKER 


117 


was scouring the country. Mrs. Tucker came 
forward, so white she looked like a ghost. As 
Judge Madison took her hand, she fell in a 
dead faint; he caught her in his arms and 
gently laid her on the couch, and prayed the 
first prayer that had been on his lips for 
years. As the nurse applied the restoratives, 
Mrs. Tucker opened her eyes. '‘Any news 
yet?” she inquired. Just then Marguerite 
Woodson came in and told Mrs. Tucker that 
John had been found on the river bank almost 
dead; but that he felt sure Mildred was living. 
He told them how he had been struck on the 
head, after which he knew nothing until he 
was thrown in the water. He presumed the 
men thought he was about dead, and would 
drown when they threw him into the stream, 
but the water had caused him to regain con¬ 
sciousness; and after some time he had been 
able to get hold of something by which he 
dragged himself on to the bank; but being 
weak, he again lost consciousness and didn’t 
know anything until the men had found him 
about day break. 

He was in a serious condition and had been 
rushed to the hospital, where he would re¬ 
ceive the best of care. While this news did 
not relieve their minds in regard to Mildred, 
there was a ray of hope that she was at least 
among the living. 


118 


MILDRED TUCKER 


Judge Madison said he would join the 
searchers; and Mrs. Tucker remembered that 
Marguerite had never met Judge Madison, so 
she presented him to her, and said, “This is 
Mildred’s dearest friend.” 

His heart was so full, he simply acknowl¬ 
edged the introduction, and turning to Mrs. 
Tucker said: “Don't give up; and, remember, 
if money has any weight, we will surely find 
your daughter; and no means shall be spared 
to find her.” He was very pale and looked 
anxious. When Marguerite looked at him, 
she knew in him Edwin had a rival; for he 
showed he was desperately in love with 
Mildred. 


CHAPTER XVII. 


All day long the search continued; but no 
trace had been found. At nine o'clock Mr. 
Tucker came home utterly exhausted. He had 
not eaten anything all day, and he wanted 
to keep on searching, but the men had per¬ 
suaded him to go home to his wife, and rest; 
they would let him know the first news or 
trace of her that could be found. 

Judge Madison had gone to him and told 
him his wife needed him—and to leave it to 
him to direct and he would leave no stone un¬ 
turned to restore his daughter to him, and to 
bring to justice the guilty parties. Mr. 
Tucker would have given every cent he had 
to have Mildred safe in his arms, and intended 
to increase the reward offered, but thought 
best to make it $5,000 at first, and later, if 
no word came, to make it more. 

Going over to the couch where Mrs. Tucker 
was lying, he fell on his knees and, with her 
hand in his, implored the Father above to pro¬ 
tect and restore their daughter. 

Of course the news of the disappearance 
of so prominent a girl as Mildred Tucker was 
copied in all the leading newspapers; and 
everything was done to find any trace of her, 


120 


MILDRED TUCKER 


but to no avail. 

Fred Stewart had left Richwood on the 
24th at 2 a. m. and reached Raleigh about 
10:30 p. m. What a happy home-coming it 
was! His father and mother had counted the 
hours until their boy, who was so dear to 
them for so many years, was to be restored 
to them. They talked most of the night; and 
when he presented to them the gifts he had 
brought them, tears of joy ran down their 
cheeks. They saw how he had worked and 
saved that he might bring this token of Jove 
to them. Then, too, they were both in need 
of new clothes—and didn’t know where the 
money was to come from to buy them. They 
went to bed with happy hearts, so glad they 
were to have him with them for a week. Fred 
had told them so much about Mr. Woodson 
and his family, and how good they had been 
to him. He had also spoken of Mr. Tucker; 
and said no one but himself knew, but Mr. 
Tucker had given him a lift when he was 
down and out. When Mr. Woodson had spoken 
to Mr. Tucker of Fred, and how he was sav¬ 
ing his money in order to go home to his father 
and mother and prove himself a man, Mr. 
Tucker had sent him a note that he wanted 
to see him. 

He went to his private office at the bank, 
and Mr. Tucker had said to him, “I under- 



MILDRED TUCKER 


121 


stand that you are working- hard and mean 
to make amends for all the evil you have 
done. I always like to help a man like that; 
so I am placing to your credit here in the bank 
$100.00 as a nest egg/' 

Fred said one hundred dollars looked like a 
fortune to him then, when he didn't have a 
cent in the world; that, having this start, he 
had been able to use from his salary enough 
to buy his mother a silk dress and his father 
a suit of clothes, and had a little left besides. 
Mrs. Stewart said: “God works in a mysterious 
way, His wonders to perform." She said, “In¬ 
deed God has been good to us that you should 
have fallen among such good people, and I 
can never show them how grateful I am." 

The next morning, as the newsboy came 
with the paper, Fred picked it up. Almost 
the first thing he saw was the awful news 
of Mildred Tucker’s disappearance. The 
paper fell from his hands as he stood gazing 
into space; turning around, he said, “What 
time does the first train leave here for Rich- 
wood?" He handed the paper to them and 
said, “That is the daughter of the man of 
whom I was telling you last night. I may be 
able to find some trace of her, and I must go 
at once." Fred thought since he knew so 
many of the rogues and their places of hid¬ 
ing, that he would be on the inside; as he 


122 


MILDRED TUCKER 


thought of how the hounds had gone to that 
stream, he remembered a cave where the 
gang of outlaws often went; and he could 
hardly wait until he reached Richwood. How¬ 
ever, he knew he must go very slow, and not 
arouse suspicion. The men would have dif¬ 
ferent ones watching, so he would first go to 
his home, and then to Mr. Tucker, and tell 
him of this cave and ask his advice as to the 
best way to go about rounding up this band 
of thieves. Of course, they might have left 
there, but he was pretty sure that was where 
they had taken her in the first place. 

When he reached home he drove directly 
to Mr. Tucker's home. Mr. Tucker was in 
the jiving room lying on the couch; when 
Fred went in he jumped up, thinking it was 
news of Mildred. 

Fred told him he probably didn't remember 
him, but he had once befriended him. Then 
he said, “I saw in the paper at Raleigh, N. C., 
yesterday, the tragedy of Miss Tucker’s dis¬ 
appearance, and I came on the first train, 
as, having been a crook myself, I know the 
dens of hiding, and thought I might be of 
service to you in finding her." 

Then he told him of a cave where a band 
of outlaws often hid; and he thought more 
than likely, that was where they had taken 
her. 


MILDRED TUCKER 


123 


Mr. Tucker was excited and wanted to go 
at once; but Fred said to him, “You know we 
must go slow and wait until we have our plans 
laid, so that we can not only rescue your 
daughter, but round up these fellows and 

break up this awful business.” 

* 

Mr. Tucker had found a note under his door 
with no name signed, saying if they would 
deposit one million dollars at a certain place 
his daughter would be restored to him. 
Money was no object if he could only find his 
daughter, but the detectives said to him, “Wait 
a day or two, and see if we can round up this 
den of thieves, before you deliver any money/’ 
It now seemed that a man had come who might 
do much toward capturing them. Mr. Tucker 
called up the office and asked that one of them 
come to his house right away. When he came, 
Mr. Tucker said, “Here is a man who more 
than likely can lead us to the place of hiding 
of my daughter.” After talking it over, it was 
agreed that they would get the men together 
and tonight, about one o’clock, they would 
entirely surround the cave; there could be no 
escape if they found them still there. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


The first real sorrow that had entered the 
Woodson home came at this time. While 
their hearts were stirred about Mildred’s dis¬ 
appearance, a telegram came announcing the 
sudden death of Edwin. 

The family had known Edwin was not 
strong, but they did not know that he had in¬ 
herited heart trouble from his mother, and 
that any shock was liable to result fatally. 
Edwin had been overtaxing his strength by 
studying too hard; and while in Boston spend-' 
ing his Christmas vacation, he read of the 
abduction of Mildred Tucker. The shock was 
too much for him and, without speaking, he 
sank to the floor, dead. 

Everything was done that could be to re¬ 
vive him, but it was beyond human power. 
God had called him to his reward; and as the 
family looked back over his young life, they 
felt he had a mansion in the skies, which he 
had been building since a little boy. His life 
had not been in vain; what a comfort it was 
to those who loved him that he had always 
been a help to all with whom he came in con¬ 
tact. 


MILDRED TUCKER 


125 


His friend, Paul Spilman, had wired he 
would accompany his remains home, reach¬ 
ing Richwood the next day. 

The Woodsons were bowed down with grief, 
but they looked to Plim “Who doeth all 
things well/’ and found much comfort in the 
fact that he had gone to a better home, even 
though he would be so sadly missed in their 
family circle. 

The scheme to surround the cave had been 
successful and they had been able to entrap 
the whole band of outlaws and to rescue 
Mildred without putting up the money de¬ 
manded. There was great danger of a lynch¬ 
ing, the city was so stirred over the affair; 
but Judge Madison persuaded them to let the 
law take its course and he assured the people 
these men would get their just deserts. 

Mildred succeeded in having one man par¬ 
doned who had befriended her and kept the 
rest from in any way mistreating her. He 
was the one who had suggested to the rest 
that she be restored to her parents and who 
had been ridiculed as being a coward. 

Her prayer had gone to his heart and he 
had told her that this was his last time to 
enter into such devilish work, but from this 
time on he meant to be a man and live a Chris¬ 
tian life. 


126 


MILDRED TUCKER 


Even in her suffering God had made it work 
for good, for she had been able to “save a soul 
from death.” He afterwards became a great 
worker in the Salvation Army, working to 
save such criminals as he had been. 

The following day the church was packed 
with friends who had come to pay their last 
respects to the memory of Edwin Woodson. 

Mildred’s heart was .almost broken as she 
thought of the few short months of their en¬ 
gagement and how the tragedy of her life had 
caused his death! She felt proud that she 
should have been honored with the love of 
such a noble man. 

Beautiful floral tributes showed the esteem 
in which he was held by all who knew him. 

After the funeral was over and the family 
had returned home, Marguerite said, “I cannot 
go back to school just now. I think I shall wait 
until next fall before I leave you, mother.” 
She felt the family needed her and she stayed 
to help the family bear this sorrow, because 
they needed her presence. 

The bond of love between Mildred and 
Marguerite grew stronger as together they 
carried flowers to lay on the grave of Edwin 
and talked of the things of the past. 


CHAPTER XIX. 


Twelve years have passed since the great 
tragedy in Mildred Tucker’s life. For ten 
years her life has been a happy dream as the 
wife of Judge Madison. 

Let us glance in the living room at ‘‘Ivory 
Pillars” and see her as she sits in her easy 
chair with the little ones perched on the arms 
of her chair and at her feet; we wonder what 
could add to her happiness, since her home 
has been blessed with four little ones. Horace 
II, Marguerite, Bradford Tucker and little 
Evelyn. She is telling them the story of the 
first Christmas, when the shepherds were 
watching their flocks by night; when the 
angels appeared unto them with the glad tid¬ 
ings, “Glory to God in the highest, and on 
earth peace, goodwill to men; for unto you 
is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, 
which is Christ the Lord.” 

As Horace Madison looked over his paper 
at the beautiful picture before him, his heart 
swelled with pride. The lovely character of 
his wife was like a perfect bud, w r hich grew 
more beautiful as it unfolded. She was his 
ideal; and with the four little tots, he felt God 
had indeed been good to him. 


128 


MILDRED TUCKER 


As the Judge and his wife gazed into the 
faces of their own happy children, they 
thought of the little ones in other homes with 
little to brighten their lives; and much time 
was given in bringing happiness to them. 

Horace Madison had become a Christian be¬ 
fore they were married and their lives mean 
much to the church to which they belong as 
w*ell as to the community in which they live. 
Their influence does not stop with their own 
home, church, or community. They are so 
glad to be represented on the foreign held by 
Charles and Marguerite Douglass, and each 
year they add another to their list by assum¬ 
ing their support. It has always been Mildred's 
prayer that God would call some of her own 
children in special service to Himself, and 
already little Marguerite is talking of when 
she is a missionary, like Aunt Marguerite. 

Charles and Marguerite Douglass sailed for 
Russia eight years ago and Mildred has letters 
quite often telling her of the joy they experi¬ 
ence in their work, and of the many hungry 
hearts for the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and how, 
when they became Christians, they will endure 
all kinds of persecution and hardships for the 
sake of Him “who loved them and gave Him¬ 
self for them.'’ 

Marguerite also told of the cheery letters she 
has had from Dorothy Moore, who is in India, 


MILDRED TUCKER 


129 


and of the great joy she has in telling the good 
news to trie poor little widows there. 

The Woodson family are still living at the 
old home, which has been remodeled and made 
very attractive. Robert and Richard have 
finished college—and Ruth is only one year 
behind them. Robert is to study medicine and 
Richard is to enter the Theological Seminary 
this fall to prepare for the ministry. Mr. and 
Mrs. Woodson are looking forward to next 
spring when Marguerite and Charles with their 
two children will be home on a furlough. 

Janet is living with the Madisons; her ex¬ 
perience in the Woodson home has added much 
to her efficiency; and Mildred feels she is a 
great help in training her little ones. 

Mr. and Mrs. Tucker are very proud of their 
grandchildren and never tire of having them in 
their home. In fact, they never miss a day of 
either driving to “Ivory Pillars” or of having 
them with them at “Maple Terrace.” 

Fred Stewart is now in business for him¬ 
self, he has been very successful, and 
has always been true to our Lord. He 
began by laying aside his tithe for the Lord, 
and now he has increased it to one-fourth of 
his income. He has made a comfortable home 
for his father and mother, with whom he lives. 



130 


MILDRED TUCKER 


He never forgot Mr. Woodson’s kindness 
to him, and made provision in his will for 
Marguerite, Richard, Robert and Ruth. 

This is Christmas eve, and Janet has taken 
the little ones up to bed. Mildred is putting 
the presents on the tree; her mind goes back 
to the Christmas eve which meant such sorrow 
to her. As she looks back over the years, she 
sees the hand of God In it all, and softly sings, 
“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.” 


The End. 











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